The Chimera Outcast
by darkwolfrider
Summary: Born in Equestria, Naruto is familiar with betrayal from a young age because of his family. he is sold to a cult for experiments one changing him into a chimera. after escaping from the facility Naruto tries to rebuild his life only for betrayal to once again ruin his life and force him on a journey to find the answers to what the cult really wants.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: hello and welcome to my newest story, I will be bouncing back and forth between the hunter story and this one. This story will have Naruto born in the Mlp universe, so I avoid any ninja techniques as best as I can. **

**I got the idea for this story by reading "A Horses Hatred by willborg300" and another story on a different site called the story is called "The champion of Harmony by Voxum"**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mlp both are owned by their respective people or groups.**

_It Started long ago in a time where there was peace in the lands, the three great tribes of ponies were united under a single ruling tribe. That tribe was the Alicorns, they were blessed with the strength of all three tribes and they used that great power to bring peace and prosperity to their land. _

_This era of peace would not last forever, the great kingdom of ponies would come under assault from an ancient place known only as the abyss. The abyss was a place of unrivaled darkness and despair. It formed monsters made for the sole purpose of spreading its corruption across the land until all was consumed._

_The abyss however was constantly pushed back by the Alicorn tribe, their power when united with the other tribes was able to remove the taint from their land and destroy the monsters that the abyss spawned. This would mark the beginning of the abysmal war._

_Everything would change when the champion of the alicorn race was turned to the abyss side, he betrayed his comrades for the sake of power. His name was Blackened Sky, he was the alicorns strongest warrior and served as a guiding light to others. Sky had a secret however he sought power to end the war at any cost, but it was this lust for power that was his undoing._

_The abyss sensed the hunger from sky and knew that if he was turned, he could tip the scale in their favor. The abyss set out to do that using sky's lust for power against him he was corrupted and fell into the abyss clutches. He betrayed his comrades and killed the other alicorns allowing the abyss to swarm the land._

_In their darkest hour, a hero arouses to fight against the abyss and its champion, that hero was shining dawn, an alicorn that survived the purge. He led the other tribes into battle against the abyss, he was able to free Sky from the taint of the abyss and together they were able to defeat the monstrosities of the abyss and end the war. _

_In the end the last two alicorns put everything they had left into sealing away the abyss so that the tribes may never have to worry about its taint again. The effort would drain their remaining power and life force away, however the abyss was far from gone remnants of it would remain bringing forth new monsters to terrorize the ponies as the remnants sought a way to break the seal._

_The remnants would go on to form the cult of the abyss, it would draw in those with similar mind sets to the monsters and former legions. The group would work from the shadows waiting for the time and chance to unleash their brethren and restart the war._

_The three kingdoms once united by the alicorns began fighting amongst themselves when the war was over, the fighting would lead to the great divide of the kingdoms each tribe splitting apart and forming their own kingdom._

_Time passed and the knowledge of the abyss war faded away from memory, the three races forgetting about the remaining threat from the remnants of the abyss. Shortly after the great divide a prophecy was made telling the return of the abyss and the seals being broken, it also spoke of a champion that would arise, he would be betrayed by those he cared about and cast into the darkness. He shall return and lead the fight against the abyss and its monstrous legions._

In a cell deep in the crystal catacombs beneath Canterlot castle lives a stallion in prisoned in a cell. The stallion was imprisoned under false charges framed for a crime he didn't commit, those he trusted were tricked into betraying him by an unknown party.

The stallion had burnt orange fur and silver mane and tail with winter blue streaks, his appearance was different than an average stallion. He looked more like a wolf especially his ears and tail, he also had a strange chaotic pattern on his fur that went all over his body, the pattern slightly glowed neon blue. The stallions name is Naruto, he doesn't have a last name because his family threw him away shortly after he was born.

The sound of chains clanking together signaled movement from the prisoner, he was doing simple exercises to pass the time and keep from getting stiff in the cell. His wrists and legs were bound in shackles so there was a limit to the range of his mobility and flexibility.

The exercises showed of the prisoner's body, mares if they saw it would consider him to be an Adonis, his muscles were the right balance of size and strength. The prisoner sat down on the bed, his exercises done for today he looked at a nearby crystal formation to see his reflection.

He lied back on the bed and put his hands behind his head, he started thinking about everything that led up to his current situation in this cell.

"It has been over a year since I was thrown in this cell, the princess and the bearers believe that I murdered my mare friend and her family. That was not the case though he was set up for the murder, but everyone believes he did It," Naruto thought to himself.

It seems like his life was cursed from birth, his family was a noble and ancient one that lived in Canterlot. When he was born his family was shocked to find that he was an earth pony and not a unicorn like his sibling.

**(Flashback start)**

His father was ashamed of the fact he had an earth pony son, it was a sign of disgrace to pure blooded unicorn families to have an earth pony or Pegasus foal or filly. His father took heavy precautions to keep him out of sight from the other families, this would go on until he was six.

His father brought him to a meeting with a strange old unicorn wearing a monocle, he didn't understand the conversation at first, but he was told the truth later his father sold him to the unicorn. He was bound and gagged then thrown in the cage in the wagon, that was the last time he would see his father.

In the wagon he saw other ponies a mixture of all three tribes as well both genders, he didn't know where he was taken after that he only knew that the life he had before was over. The reason the old stallion was collecting ponies, he was part of a cult that was doing various experimenting on ponies.

He didn't understand what the experiments were for at first, but he would soon find out at least part of the experiments were to create chimeras. They were combining varied species together in order create chimeras or monsters under their control.

He was selected for the chimera experiments, he was fused with multiple subjects, out all the ones selected for this branch of the chimera project he was the only one to survive. The others were not as fortunate as their bodies began breaking down soon after the process was complete.

After the experiment he learned what he was fused with three preserved subjects, he only learned what two of them were, one was an ancient dragon, the other was a rare breed of wolf. Naruto never learned what the third subject was, the reason was only the highest members knew what the third subject was.

The results of the experiments were increased senses, strength and speed, and the ability to breathe fire. His body changed his ears and tail as well looked more like wolves as well as developing fangs and claws. One good thing about these changes was he was able to shield some of the younger prisoners from the guards, because of this the other prisoners began to see him as a leader.

Once he had enough control over his body, he set his escape plan in motion, he planned out as much as he could gaining information whenever he could. During the escape he armed himself with two weapons from the armory, both were sentient because he could feel them reaching out to him every time, he got near them, when he got touched them memories of the previous wielder flooded his mind. He saw what looked like a stallion without fur slicing his way through countless enemies and monsters, he had a strange design in red that went across his body.

One was an axe that had a large spike at the opposite side of the axe head, the handle was made from a solid and sturdy wood, the head had unique designs on the head along with strange symbols. The axe had ice, powers the axe could freeze on contact and fire an ice beam, and when thrown he could summon it back to his hand.

The other weapon was a pair of jagged edge short swords that had a chain at the base of the handles, the chains came to life and wrapped themselves around his wrists and seared themselves so they wouldn't come off.

He didn't need to worry about training to use the weapons because his body knew how to use them instinctively, he had a feeling that the knowledge came from the weapons themselves teaching him how to use them.

To cover their escape, they set up a handful of distractions, setting some of the test animals free and destroying the camera control center, to keep the cultists occupied as much as possible. They moved quickly as they could those who could supported those who were unable to walk or move under their own power.

As they moved out of the facility and into the labyrinth that hid the facility Naruto soon noticed that something was following them when they were going through the maze, the signs of the creatures approach were loud thump like footsteps, an ear splitting roar, and red glowing that signaled its approach.

Naruto made sure to keep the group moving at all costs not wanting to risk meeting whatever was following them. Unfortunately, things would come to a head when the group was crossing a crumbling stone bridge over what looked like a bottomless pit. A loud roar rocked the cavern, Naruto knew that the monster was closing in fast and looked for a way to stall the monster while they escaped.

Naruto noticed a spot in the middle of the bridge where the bridge was weakened, with enough force the bridge could be broken and prevent the monster from tailing them. Naruto rushed towards the spot he used the axe to hack away at the stone, but before he could finish the monster emerged from the shadows.

The monster was enormous, it towered over every pony in the group, the monster seemed to be made of fire and darkness. It possessed two large horns one on each side of its head and large bat like wings made of fire. The monster took one step onto the bridge and it cracked under its weight.

The monster roared at Naruto and then summoned a great sword made of fire, Naruto tightened his grip on his axe the head gathering frost responding to his grip. The monster swung its blade at Naruto, he responded by meeting the sword with his axe.

The stored energy in the axe poured into the monster's blade causing it to explode and push the monster back, the monster roared in fury and summoned a whip of fire to deal with Naruto.

"I will not let you harm them, so go back to whatever pit you crawled out of!" Naruto shouted while slamming the axe onto the cracked spot, the stored power was released in an icy explosion breaking the bridge.

The collapsing of the bridge sent the monster tumbling into the darkness, the success was short lived though as the crack of the whip broke through the air, the whip wrapped around Naruto's waist pulling him into the darkness.

Naruto remembered failing through the darkness striking the monster whenever he could, the monster struck back several times slamming him into the walls of the pit. As they fell further into the pit Naruto began to see clumps of water appearing in the air around them. The clumps got larger and more frequent the further they fell until they slammed into an underground lake. Before they hit the water, Naruto embedded his chain blades into the back of the monster and pulled himself onto its back to shield himself from the impact.

The water quenched the monsters fire on impact, the monster then swam into an underground tunnel dragging Naruto with it because he was still chained to the beast, the impact of the water had knocked him for a loop.

The two would emerge in a darkened room, Naruto snuck away from the monster hoping to regain his strength incase the monster came after him. He would find out that he was in the remains of an ancient castle and judging by the decorations he found it belonged to unicorns.

Naruto explored the castle trying to find anything that would tell him where he is, however that plan was scraped when he encountered the monster. The monster couldn't summon its flames on its body, but it still could use its flame weapons, the two would clash for what felt like hours before Naruto was able to gain the upper hand and end the battle.

Naruto ran into a room with a damaged floor, it had numerous cracks and had weakened spot that stood out due to the discoloration of the stone. The monster crashed into the room soon after words, Naruto wanted to get the monster to the weakened spot on the floor and hopefully finish it off.

Naruto threw a stone near the spot drawing the monster's attention to it, Naruto charged up the axe and fired the energy as a beam. The attack hit the monster square in its chest pushing it back on to the weakened spot, the monsters weight caused the floor to collapse and the monster to crash down.

Naruto drew his chain blades for the final time, he focused on charging the blades in the same way as he does the axe. The energy on the blades cracked and sparked as lighting energy enveloped the blades, Naruto jumped down impaling the monster in the chest piecing its heart and taking it out for good.

Naruto collapsed against a wall he was exhausted from everything that happened to him, the top thing on his mind was the fate of the others. He could only hope and pray that the others would get to safety and their freedom, he had faith that the others would take charge and lead them in his stead.

Once he recovered enough, he tried to find out where he was and how to get to civilization, as he explored the castle, until a strange ball of light appeared before him. Naruto was surprised by the light, it wanted him to follow him, Naruto chose to follow the light but keeping his guard up just in case.

The orb led him to an enormous door, the door was made from a type of white stone and had a strange gold pattern etched into the door. At the center of the door was a massive lock made directly into the door itself, the lock was made in the shape of a unicorn's head.

As Naruto got closer to the door, he noticed what appeared to be a black ooze or sludge dripping from the lock, Naruto got a bad feeling from the ooze he remembered seeing ooze like that at the facility and immediately started back-pedaling from the door.

Before Naruto could get far the ooze lashed out and entangled him, the ooze began pulling him towards the lock while Naruto tried to resist it proved to be futile effort. Once Naruto was in close contact with the lock more ooze tentacles emerged and pulled Naruto into the ooze, the last thing any pony would see is Naruto with his arm stretched out as he was pulled into ooze.

As Naruto was consumed by the ooze memories flashed before his eyes, the memories focused on what looked like two alicorns fighting against a massive monster and other strange monsters like what the cultists had imprisoned in the facility. The memories ended with the two sacrificing themselves to seal away a tremendous evil.

When Naruto came around, he found he was still alive with both of his weapons and items and he was in a forest clearing. Naruto got up and looked around climbing up tree to see if he could find any form of civilization, he was able to see what looked like a town in the far distance and what looked like another castle ruin in the distance.

"I will head to the castle first, I don't think I will be able to make it to the town before nightfall and who knows what could be residing in this forest," Naruto thought to himself deciding the best of action.

Naruto travelled fast as he could in the forest gathering what supplies he could from he could find, he was traveling faster then he would have wanted but the storm that was fast approaching his location made the choice to move slowly impossible. Lucky for him the castle that he saw earlier was in view, hopefully there would be a few rooms that were in decent shape that could he spend the night in.

He soon found an old bedroom that was still in decent condition, the room was decorated with sun motifs. Naruto hoped that the previous owner wouldn't mind him using the room for tonight, but this room was in the best condition compared to the others he found. As he settled down for the nigh, he could hear the storm raging outside, last night he was sitting in his cell planning the escape for everyone and now they were on the round to freedom with any luck they would be ok.

The sun shown through the window and woke Naruto from his slumber, he sat up stretching and popping any kinks and knots in his body. Naruto made a small breakfast of what food he could find; his next move was to explore the castle so more and see if he can find a map of the area. It was when he stumbled upon the library that he found what he was looking for, the map told him he was in the Evertree forest.

Naruto prepared to head out to the town he saw earlier, hopefully the towns people wouldn't be to afraid of him because of his appearance. He could only up for the best when he got there, he would have to be careful when traveling the rest of the way to the town, he saw a few creatures last night but was able to avoid them.

As Naruto moved through the forest, he encountered different creatures on the way one was a group of dogs that were talking about gems for some reason, they had ragged clothing and collars with a symbol on them that he couldn't make out. The second creature was far more helpful he was a large purple sea serpent with orange eye brows and facial hair. He told Naruto that the closest town in this area was Ponyville, he was also able to point him in the direction of the town.

"Before you go there is an animal, I must warn you about, it's called a timber wolf, the creature is extremely aggressive preying on anything it can and attacks in packs. The creatures were made of wood making them highly flammable, fire is the best weapon against them," Stepan said.

"Thank you for the information, the wolves won't be a problem I have a weapon that is enchanted with fire so that should protect me from the wolves, but I will be careful none the less," Naruto replied happy that he had a positive lead to civilization.

It was midafternoon when Naruto encountered the timber wolves, they were just as dangerous as Stephan said they were, they attacked without mercy but unfortunately for the wolves Naruto's paired blades were enchanted with fire, so they made short work of them. The wolves refused to let Naruto go so easily though, they relentlessly attacked him repeatedly while Naruto was able to fight them off, they also did a number on him as well.

Naruto wounded in several places stumbled out of the forest and into an apple orchid, Naruto had never seen so many apple trees in one place before. He collapsed against one of the trees his wounds having taken their toll on him, as he started to blackout, he noticed a tall stallion running up towards him but before he could get up and defend himself from the possible attacker his strength left him, and he passed out.

When Naruto came around, he found himself in a hospital room, worried that the cult had captured him once again but once he looked around, he realized that wasn't the case especially since he wasn't bound in any way. The room was a basic hospital room with a relaxing view of a garden, Naruto was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a door opening letting in a mare in a nurse's uniform.

She had a cream-colored fur tone with multi-purple colored mane and tail, it darkened at the top of her head and lighted as it went down to her neck. She gave Naruto a welcomed smile hoping to relax the colt, she heard how he was found in the apple orchard, from the signs she could only guess he was a runaway from somewhere.

"Hello, my name is Crystal sky, you found in Sweet Apple Acres in rough condition do you mind telling me how you got in that condition?" Crystal asked.

Naruto told her that he was abandoned by his parents for being born an earth pony instead of a unicorn, he wondered around Equestria eventuality wandering into Evertree woods. He fought off the timber wolves that attacked him at every turn, until he wandered into Sweet Apple Acres.

After Naruto finished his tale, he was suddenly pulled into a hug from Crystal Sky, she was crying after hearing his tale she couldn't imagine any pony throwing away their child just because they weren't the same race as them. Naruto was surprised at the mare's action, he was far used to used suffering beating from the guards and cultists at the lab. He was used to set an example in front of the others because he always tried to shield them from the crueler members of the group.

When the hug ended Crystal explained that he was in Ponyville, which was the town your friend the sea serpent told you about. She explained it was a friendly town located on the edge of Evertree woods. She explained since he was an orphan he would be placed in the orphanage because he was to young to live on his own.

Unfortunately for Naruto because of his appearance and the fact he came from Evertree woods, other ponies were wary of him and some of the other orphans made fun of him. Naruto never let them get him down choosing to focus on learning skills to grow a career in.

He would be hired as a lumber jack and working as a handy pony on the side, he enjoyed both jobs as a lumber jack he traveled all over Equestia meeting new ponies and seeing the sights and as a handy pony he formed bonds with different ponies in Ponyville.

He learned the skills for his job as a handy pony from various books and a handful of ponies who were experienced in do it your self-jobs. He also learned other things as well, from the cakes and Pinkie pie who worked at Sugar cube corner, Ponyville's premier bakery at least according to Pinkie pie. From Rarity he learned how to sew and repair clothes, something he found useful in his line of work.

He would eventually form bounds of friendship with all the bearers through different encounters or when he learned different skills under their tutelage. Time would move quickly Naruto would grow up into a handsome stallion in the eyes of the mares of Ponyville. His reputation in Ponyville changed over the years with more seeing him as a nice and friendly pony while some seeing an outcast while others saw him as a good friend or love interest in the eyes of mares.

Everything would change with the arrival of Twilight Sparkle for the Sumer Sun celebration, Naruto Knew from reputation and her being the student of Princess Celestia. It was following the incident that things would start changing, the first being his choice to start dating mares.

In the past he considered dating in past but was nervous and unsure when it came down to it, thankfully he got help from friends from work and started into the dating scene. He would find out he was immensely popular among the mares, the reasons why were his wild looks, his charming and helpful nature, and the fact he considered to be the hottest stallion in Ponyville.

Naruto felt that he could feeling towards the bearers, but he didn't want to risk destroying his friendship with the mares, he had done that before, but an event happened that caused him to lose those friends, he didn't want it to happen again.

Naruto would enjoy the dates he had with the different mares but after a while he got tired of the constant one night dates and he wanted to form a more serious relationship with a mare but it seemed that they didn't want the same with him.

After a while he decided to take a risk and try dating his friends, he could only hope that this choice wouldn't come back to bite him. Rainbow Dash was the first of his friends that he tried to date, she was surprised at first but later warmed up to the idea, he remembered her saying that she would lower her standards to date him.

Things would go smoothly for a little while, but everything changed when day, she would walk up to him and slap him across the face. The reason was she had been told that he was cheating on her, she stormed off leaving Naruto alone, hurt, and confused about the situation. When he saw Rainbow the next day she was laughing and holding hands with another stallion, Naruto recognized him form the days at the orphanage as one of the members of a group that liked to give him a tough time.

The same pattern would follow when he tried dating the others, each one ending with them accusing him of cheating on them and then seeing them with another member of the same group as the first. These incidents would further degrade Naruto's reputation in the town, while they never did anything openly damaging, they made him feel unwelcomed when ever he was in public.

Naruto knew something was going on, but he couldn't do or say anything without any kind of proof, so just tried to keep his head down and stay out of the publics eye as best he could. His problems would continue to worsen, because of the rumors surrounding him would cause him to lose his job with the lumber company that he worked at for years.

He was called into his boss's office one day, Naruto could tell from the look on his face the news was bad and no doubt because of the rumors and complaints from the other workers. His boss was an earth pony with grey mane and tail from age and a chestnut oak fur, his name is Solid Timber, he liked Naruto because he was a diligent worker and always went beyond than any pony else on the working crew.

"You wanted to see me boss?" Naruto asked his longtime boss.

"Yes, I did please sit down you may not like what I have to say," Timber said his voice filled with regret with what he must do.

"Naruto I am sorry to say this, but I will have to let you go, there has been too many complaints from the other workers and its causing problems with the work flow. I know that this job is your main source of income, but I may have a solution for you if you're interested in it?" Timber asked Naruto.

Naruto knew that this was coming but it still hurt non the less, however he was curious about the offer Timber had for him, he always looked out for him when he first started working under him and showed him the ropes.

"What's the offer, considering my options I will take what I can get," Naruto replied glad to see his boss looking after him.

"I have a friend who is a captain in the royal guard, I have told her about you in the past and she was interested in skills as a fighter and the weapons you wield. The two of us having been talking about offering you a position in the guard, both of us feel you could do a lot more there than working for her as a lumberjack. What do you say, are you interested in the job?" Timber asked Naruto waiting for his response.

Naruto thought about it for a moment before answering, this seems like the best option at this current moment in time. He smiled at Timber because once again when the chips were down, he had his back.

"How soon should I pack my things?" Naruto asked.

A few days later Naruto found himself in Canterlot reporting for basic training for his new career, once that was complete, he was placed on a squad the pony he was replacing was removed due his views towards mares causing problems in the group. The leader of the squad was a mare named Star blitz, she is a bat-pony with a dark blue coat and a mane and tail that was solid blue near the top of her head and lightened the further down her mane grew her wings were a mix of two shades of blue.

The other members of his squad were a pair of twin pegasus Sparkling Gleam and Frosty breeze, Sparking Gleam had a navy-blue coat, sapphire eyes, and a violet mane. Her sister had grey coat, teal eyes, and dark-red mane cut short. Cosmic Night was an earth pony with a sky-blue coat, storm-gray eyes, and a midnight-blue mane.

Naruto formed a strong bond with the members of his squad each member having their own unique set of quirks. Naruto tried to avoid Shining Armor as much as he could, he figured that Shining may hold resentment towards him because of the rumors of him cheating on his sister.

Naruto quickly the gained the reputation as a diligent member of the guard but at the same time he was quiet and a bit of a loner. He was trying to avoid causing problems for himself, however that didn't stop others from being interested in him and trying to find out more about him.

He remembers the day the Princess Celestia called him to her private study for a chat, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what she wanted with him. The one thing that came to mind was that she was curious to see him joining the royal guard.

Naruto stood before Princess Celestia who was looking over paperwork at her desk, he was waiting for her to explain the why she called him here.

"When I saw you in basic training, I was curious to see you there, Twilight written letters about you, she mentioned that you worked as a lumberjack for a company in Ponyville. May I ask why the sudden career change?" Celestia asked Naruto.

"The false rumors that say I cheated in my relationship caused many citizens of Ponyville to gain biased views against me, the complaints would cause me to lose my job at the company. My boss has a friend who is a member of the guard and they have been talking about me joining the guard for a while, the job would also get me away from the rumors spreading in Ponyville,"  
Naruto replied.

Celestia was surprised to hear everything that Naruto was going through, she was impressed with Naruto because despite everything he continues to push forward in his life rather than lying down and accepting defeat like others have done.

It was following the talk between the two of them that things would begin to change between them, it would be small non-noticeable things that became larger with time. One of the first things was he was selected for was guarding Celestia during the day court and other events which was unusual because he wasn't considered for that position in the past but Celestia requested him to do that job.

Naruto began noticing that the more time he spent around Celestia, the more he began noticing trivial things about that made her happy and enjoying being around her more. Naruto knew what these feeling could lead to and did his best to squash the feeling down because they would only lead to more problems that he didn't need.

**(Flashback end)**

Naruto sighed and lied back down on his cot, he remembers how everything changed once again in his life then later fall apart because of some pony spreading lies to discredit him once again. It started when he met a mare unicorn named Glowing Sol. She was a tall mare with a pink mane and tail with small streaks of red and a glowing ivory fur tone.

They had met when he had helped her deal with some thugs who were looking to take advantage of her, he helped her out and their relationship soon started afterwards.

**(flashback start)**

Naruto was walking around Canterlot not really having any goal in mind just walking around to enjoy the nice weather outside. As he was walking around, he heard strange noises coming from an alley way, Naruto decided to investigate and see what was going on to make sure its nothing was wrong.

What he found was a group of stallions harassing a mare, Naruto could tell from a glance that their advances were unwanted, and they refused to take the message.

"Come on baby, we just want to show you a goodtime," one of the stallions said reaching out for the mare.

The mare slapped the hand away before turning to face the leader "One don't touch me please, two I don't want anything to do with a bunch creep like you, I suggest you back away from the mare before this turns ugly."

Another stallion tried to grab her but was stopped when Naruto grabbed his hand, "I believe that the mare said no, that means you should leave her alone."

The leader turned towards Naruto annoyed at the interruption "this doesn't concern you, leave or my friends will make you leave."

Naruto merely raised an eyebrow and looked at the group of stallions, they were your average thugs no doubt armed with pocket knives to threaten other ponies with. He could tell that these thugs wouldn't be too much of a challenge to deal with but was worried about the mare getting hurt.

The choice was made for him when the thugs tried to attack him thinking it would be easy with numbers, they were proven wrong when Naruto burst into action. The first fell when Naruto slammed his fist into his gut, the thug collapsed to the ground holding his gut while moaning in pain.

The next swiped at Naruto with a small blade, Naruto grabbed the stallion's wrist twisting the stallion's wrist, so he dropped the blade before chopping him in the neck knocking him out. There were only two left the leader and a muscular stallion that served as the groups muscle, the leader looked nervous at the fact two of his crew were taken out with little trouble, he knew he had to decide what to do next.

The leader chose to make a break for it with the other stallion following behind him, Naruto just shuck his head at the thug leader's cowardice, he checked and made sure the two stallions he took out would be ok before approaching the mare.

"Are you ok? I thought it best to step in when the thugs wouldn't leave you alone and was concerned with what they could have done to you, my name is Naruto in case you're wondering," Naruto said.

The mare latched on to Naruto thanking him repeatedly for coming along when he did, she quickly explained that they had approached her unexpectedly they had tried sweet talking her into coming with them, but she refused so they switched to using force.

"I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Glowing Sol I'm here in Canterlot on vacation, I wanted to check out all the shops here, please call me Glow," Glow said smiling at Naruto while extending her hand.

Naruto smiled back and shuck her hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you than Glow, I am sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances."

Before they could talk more a low growl came from Glow's stomach, she blushed and looked embarrassed from the sound, but before either could say anything Naruto's sound off in response.

Both looked at one other before laughing at the silliness of the moment, "we it seems like our stomachs are trying to tell us something, how about we grab some lunch together I know of a restaurant nearby that has top class food if you're interested?"

Glow giggled and nodded her head "Yes, that sounds lovely, lead on then," Glow said motioning Naruto to lead the way.

The two of them headed out of the alley way and back onto the streets and towards the restaurant. Naruto hoped his friend didn't go over board when it came to Glow, he had a habit of flirting with any mare he sees in his place, despite this he was a first class cook and took enormous pride in his work.

As the two got closer they had began hearing what sounds like yelling coming from inside, Naruto had a good idea what was going on and moved away from the door with Glow, before she could ask what was going on a stallion came flying through the door and rolled on the ground before stopping. The door opened once more letting another stallion out, this one walking out the door on his own two feet.

The stallion had a tan fur coat, and dark blond mane and tail, he was wearing a black suit that was made from quality material. He put a cigarette in his mouth and then lit it with his lighter then took a drag before looking at the stallion on the ground.

"Maybe next time you will follow the rules of my restaurant, now beat it because I don't want to see you anytime soon," the stallion said before walking back towards the restaurant.

He stopped when he saw Glow, he quickly grabbed her hand kissing it before talking to her "Hello beautiful, Princess Celestia must have blessed me to have such a beautiful mare here before me, my name is Fine Cuisine," Fine Cuisine said.

Glow found the stallion very charming giggling at his antics, Naruto just shakes his head already used to his friends' antics. "Cuisine if your done flirting with Glow can you show us to a table?" Naruto asked.

Cuisine turned to Naruto with a smile on his face, "Now this is a surprise, I never thought I would see you in the company of a mare, a beautiful mare at that."

Naruto smiled at his friend and quickly explained what happened earlier Cuisine tightened his fists in anger but then relaxed because he was happy his friend intervened when he did. He then motioned the two to follow him inside setting them down at a table and giving them menus.

As they looked over their menus Naruto struck up a conversation with Glow, "you said you're here on vacation to visit the shops any in particular you want to see?"

Glow smiled at Naruto "the shops I want to visit are the fashion boutiques that are located here, especially the one run by Hoity Toity the famous fashion designer."

"That sounds nice, I had a friend who works as a fashion designer she greatly admires Hoity and the work he does. Canterlot is home to many different shops ranging from boutiques to restaurants and bakeries," Naruto replied.

The two would continue to talk through out their lunch discussing different things ranging from their careers to their favorite types of entertainment. Both enjoyed the others company, after lunch Glow asked him to show her some of the shops he talked about during lunch.

As they walked around Canterlot Naruto would talk about his squad mates and the fun times they had together, she told Naruto about her family that just her sister since her parents had passed away, Glow told him about the strong bond they had formed with each other.

The two would continue to walk around Canterlot enjoying each other company and visiting different shops in Canterlot, many ponies would assume that they were a couple because of the way the two acted but were surprised to find out they had just met early today. By the time, the two would finish their tour of Canterlot it would already be well into the evening with the moon high in the sky.

Right now, he was escorting Glow to her hotel room, he chose to do this for two reasons one is to make sure she arrived safely and the second was he enjoyed Glow's company and wanted to be around her a little bit longer.

"Thank you for accompanying me around Canterlot, it was very nice to have some pony to talk with and not worry them acting like an immature filly/foal or throwing cheap pick-up lines at me every few seconds, I have dealt with numerous stallions can only think with the head between their legs and not the one their shoulders," Glow said.

Naruto nodded his head in understanding he knew what she was talking about having dealt stallions like that in the past, those who only care about putting another notch in their belts when ever they date or sleep with a mare.

The two had reached Glow's hotel "Thanks again for everything Naruto I had a wonderful time with you today. I hope we can do this again when your available again," Glow said with a bright smile on her face.

Naruto smiled at Glow "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself I fell the same, as for doing it again I'm fine with that we just have to figure out when to do it."

Glow leaned in close to plant a kiss on his cheek "I will be looking forward to it then," Glow replied with a sly look on her face.

Naruto headed back to his apartment that he lived in, he originally stayed in the castle barracks until he could find and afford an apartment to live. The apartment wasn't super big, but it was just big enough for him, the apartment also had a wonderful view of the castle. Naruto loved how it looked during the evening when the moon shined own it. Naruto put on his sleep pants and crawled into bed his dreams were of his friends both new and old.

The next day Naruto found himself dragged to a café by his squad, today the squad got together to hang out as a group not that he minded in any way. They usually tried to hang out as a group when ever they had a large amount of down time from work and no one was busy with personal matters. Right now, he was having a relaxing drink with the others in a café that they decided to try out, Naruto could also feel his leader smirking at him from across the table.

"Are you still grumpy that we made you come with us? This is just a fun way to relax from the more difficult assignments such as the dragon hunting one, we just wrapped up the day before," Star Blitz said.

The mission they had just completed was dealing with a trio of rouge feral dragons that had attacked a mid-sized mining town, the towns ponies suffered minor injuries, but no pony was killed during the attack. Star Blitz and her team were sent to take care of the threat, once it was revealed that the dragons were feral, they had to use force when the dragons attacked but were able to find them off and subdue them.

The team had been given a few days off to recover from the battle against the dragons, they had planned to get together yesterday but things popped up trashing that idea. He remembered when he was first assigned to the group, he was replacing another member that was deliberately causing conflict amongst the teammates and was removed.

"I'm not grumpy about hanging out with the crew today, I enjoy our get togethers especially the times where we have fun going to carnivals or the arcade," Naruto replied to Star ignoring the smirk on her face.

The sounds of arguing drew the two pony's attention, when they realized who was fighting, they both sighed because they realized that the twins were fighting again.

"Knock-it off you two, you are causing a scene," Star said.

The twins turned to look at Naruto and Star, both frowned then pointed at each other then continued the argument, Naruto and Star shake their heads at this familiar with their behavior.

"I see the twins are at it again, what is it this time?" Cosmic Night asked in a bored tone.

"Not sure but it's nothing we should be worried about knowing them," Star replied.

"That reminds me on the way here I heard rumors about you being in the company of a very beautiful mare, would you care to comment on the rumors Naruto?" Star asked with a sly grin on her face.

Naruto shakes his head at the question, he realizes that he would have to answer otherwise Star and the twins wont stop bugging him until he does. He enjoyed the time he spent with his friends but wished the didn't have to be so noisy at times.

Naruto sighed "Yes, I helped out a mare who was being harassed by a small group of stallions, after dealing with them I escorted her to Fine Cuisine's restaurant. After lunch she asked me to accompany her around Canterlot while she checked out various stores and stalls."

The others smiled at Naruto, they knew he was the definition of what a stallion should act like, he was always treating mares with respect. The twins easily pictured Naruto as a knight in armor protecting a damsel in distress.

Before any pony could say anything else, they were distracted by some pony entering the café, the pony in question was Glow. She gained a lot of attention from the stallions in the café with gaining silly looks on their faces.

Glow looked around until she saw Naruto sitting with his squad, she quickly ran over to him and hugged him crushing the hearts of the other stallions in the room. Star and the others were memorized by her beauty, the twin's eyes shined with sparkles both mesmerized by the mare's beauty. Star and Cosmic were stunned at Glow's beauty, they had seen numerous mares using numerous ways to enhance their beauty and appearance, but Glow put them all to shame.

"Naruto its nice to see you again, I wasn't expecting to run into today, but this is fine," Glow said

"It's nice to see you too, before I forget these are the members of my squad that I talked about yesterday, this is Glow the mare I was just talking about," Naruto said introducing Glow to the group.

Naruto pulled out a chair for Glow, he knew the others would have questions for her he just hopped none of them went overboard on them.

Glow turned to Star "So you're the leader of his squad, Naruto spoke highly of you and the others yesterday as we walked around Canterlot. He talked a lot about how much he enjoys being on the squad and hanging out with you and the others."

Star and the others smiled at that, they enjoyed having Naruto as a member of their squad. He was always doing what he could to support the squad and watched their backs when they were in dangerous areas. They looked towards Naruto and noticed the sheepish look he had on his face embarrassed by Glow's words.

Star nodded her head at Glow's words "Yes that is true, every pony on the squad enjoys having him around. Naruto said he met you when a bunch of stallions were giving you a tough time, would you care to comment on that?"

Glow blushed at the question, her mind easily picturing Naruto as a knight in armor defending her against those stallions.

"Yes, I am happy to say he did just that driving off those ruffians and then escorting me around Canterlot for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, that is something I am far too familiar with, I am approached by many stallions who just want to be with me for my looks alone," Glow said

The others especially Star and the twins knew exactly what she was talking about having been in similar situations in the past, they had been a few times that the stallions wouldn't get the message and leave them alone so they had to defend themselves from their advances.

Naruto and Cosmic been through it as well, they received it from mares who couldn't take no for an answer, a few being bold enough to try and drug them to knock them out or make them defenseless to the mare's unwanted advances.

The group would continue talking about various things from Glows history and career to different missions the squad has been on and are cleared to talk about in public. Eventually the group would leave to continue with their plans while Glow and Naruto set up a date for the next night in the form of a star gazing picnic, the members of the squad could easily see that those two were falling hard for the other.

The day came and went fairly quickly the group ended up going to the arcade to have fun and play games, every pony had a good time Cosmic ended up winning two stuffed animals that he gave to the twins while Naruto and Star competed against one other in different games. The group ate at the arcade them went their separate ways for the night.

The next day was a slow one for Naruto, he had practice in the morning and then prepared everything he would need for his date with Glow later on that night, he took precaution to avoid going overboard on their dates because Glow hated when pony's have done that in the past for her.

The sun had set, and the moon and stars were shinning brightly in the sky, Naruto and Glow were cuddling up on a blanket that he bought to sit on for the date. The telescope and a book on stars and constellations were set up in a spot nearby, they had taken turns seeing what they could see and tried to out due one other in finding constellations.

Glow sighed and relaxed herself into Narutos warm embrace "Your friends are nice pony's, when I was talking to them, they were protective towards you. Is it because of the problems you were going through before you joined the guard?"

Naruto nodded his head "We always watch and protect each other both on and off the field, helping each other with what ever problems one would have. I am glad I had the chance to form such strong bonds with each member of the squad."

The two would continue to enjoy the beautiful night and each other's company before turning in for the night, Naruto made sure to escort Glow back to her hotel in order to spend a little more time with her.

Things would pick up after their star gazing date, Naruto would be busy with several back to back missions with his team. When Naruto explained this to Glow, she just laughed and understood that he was busy, to her it meant that Naruto and his team were being chosen to do those missions because of their skills and abilities.

Even before Naruto joined Star's squad, they were already considered to be an elite unit in Canterlot. The group was often assigned high ranking missions for that reason, the missions ranging from dealing with rouge dragons to dangerous magical creatures that had been set lose on the land.

When the two were able to get together Naruto immediately asked Glow if she wanted to go out on a date or have a nice quiet dinner at his place, she chose his place because she loved his cooking since the first time she tried it when they had a picnic lunch together.

When she asked about his skills as a cook, he said he learned from others how to cook and read lots of different cook books for different ideas. He also cooked for his team at various times, they rotated who cooked so that way everyone did their share of the work.

Glow and Naruto would go out for desert because what he prepared wasn't ready, so the couple went out to a nearby bake shop and split a small cake between themselves. It was during desert that Naruto noticed that Glow had something on her mind, when he asked, she would avoid the question or change the subject. Naruto told her that when she was ready to talk, he would listen to what she had to say when she was ready.

Naruto and Glow were walking down towards Glow's hotel, she wrapped his arms around him as the two enjoyed the walk and the cool night air. However, as they passed his place Glow stopped in walking and looked up at the sky, Naruto noticed once again that she had something on her mind.

Naruto turned to Glow "Is there something a matter Glow, or did you want to go somewhere else before heading back to your hotel?"

Glow shook her head "Nothing is wrong, but can we go back to your place?"

Naruto pulled her close and planted a kiss on her forehead causing her to blush, then he started walking back towards his apartment with Glow once again wrapping her arms around his arm. Naruto had Glow sit down on the couch as he put a few things away and took care of a few other things.

When Naruto returned to the living room, Glow was waiting for him on the couch he sat down next to her and held her hands while he looked her in the eyes.

"I know there is something on your mind, you can tell me anything you want or feel you need to? Is there anything you want to do to help you relax?" Naruto asked with concern in his voice.

Glow blushed heavy because of the concern Naruto was showing for her, she was glade she meets him and steeled herself to make the choice that has been weighing on her all night.

"Can you show me your bedroom, I want to be with you tonight," Glow replied with a large blush on her face and turning away from Naruto in embarrassment.

Naruto was surprised at first, but he could tell that this was her choice. Naruto placed his hand underneath her chin and planted a kiss on her lips to relax her.

"Ok, but if anytime you don't feel comfortable just let me know, I don't want to force you into anything you don't feel comfortable with," Naruto said while looking Glow in the eyes to show he was serious as he could see that she was nervous about this.

In the bedroom the couple was sitting on the bed making out, Naruto slowly moved down her neck lightly biting and sucking in different spots, this caused Glow to let out little moans at his touch.

Glow looked at Naruto shyly before turning away "this will be my first time, please be gentle," Glow said to Naruto.

Naruto kissed glow once again "I will be gentle as I can, just say the word and I will stop."

The two resumed their activity with Naruto slowly pushing Glow down on the bed, but before he could start anything, she gently pushed him off.

Glow turned away from Naruto "I'm sorry, I can't do this."

Naruto pulled Glow into a hug to relax her "There is nothing to apologize for, I told you from the get-go I wouldn't push you into anything you didn't want to do."

Glow smiled at Naruto, no matter what he always had her best interest at heart and would never force her into anything she didn't want to do. She had to tell him the truth, she refused to lie to him anymore, she only hoped that he would forgive her in the end.

"I do want this with you, but I am tired of lying to you because of personal fears that you wouldn't want to be with me if you knew the truth," Glow said with tears going down her eyes.

Naruto was confused "What do you mean Glow?"

Glow sighed and mentally prepared herself for what was to come "First Glowing Sol is not my real name, and this is not how I really look."

"That's ok, just show me the truth, I promise to wait until the end before I say anything," Naruto replied

Glow smiled at Naruto glad he was being reasonable with her, Glow's horn lit up and soon a white light lit up the room blinding Naruto for a second. When the light died down a familiar pony was standing in Glow's place.

The mare was taller than most, but rivaled Naruto in height, she had ivory white fur and a tri-colored mane. He had a long horn and a pair of swans or dove like wings. Naruto was unable to hide his shock at the sight before him, he never expected that Glow would be Princess Celestia in disguise. Naruto quickly regained his composure, he believed that Princess Celestia had a reason for her actions but wondered what they were.

"I can guess that the transformation is to get away from the reasonability's that you face as Princess of Equestria and its ruler, but why keep it up with me for so long?" Naruto asked confused by the situation.

Celestia smiled at Naruto glad he was giving her a chance to explain her actions, the fact he already figured out one of the reasons surprised her slightly, but she already knew that Naruto was an intelligent pony from the time she had spent with him.

"You are correct about me wanting a break from the duties I had face as rule, the job is not always easy, there are times when I feel like I am pushed to the breaking point," Celestia said while sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Naruto sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her to relax and comfort her, he knew that this wasn't easy for her and wanted to support her. Celestia smiled at Naruto and leaned into his embrace enjoying the warmth.

"That isn't the only reason that I created the disguise, I also used the disguise to find the one that would win my heart, I wanted some pony to look past the beauty and see the mare underneath," Celestia said with a blush on her face avoiding looking at Naruto.

Naruto understood what she was talking about, he went through the same thing when he was dating back in Ponyville. The mares seemed to only care for his physical appearance and nothing more, every date ended the same way in his bedroom.

"A long time ago there was a stallion that won not only mine but my sisters' heart, but the story comes to a tragic end because he was killed during a dark period of Equestria's history. Naruto you're the second pony to make me feel this way, everything I told you on our dates is completely true. I am in love with you Naruto," Celestia said looking directly in his eyes.

Naruto found himself at a loss of words, he had no idea what to say.

"Princess Celestia," Naruto said

"Please just Celestia when we're alone," Celestia replied

"Okay Celestia," Naruto said.

The two leaned in close for a kiss before slowly picking up where they left off earlier.

"Please Naruto I want you to be my first tonight," Celestia said with a large blush on her face.

"Okay my princess," Naruto replied

The next day Naruto awoke to find Celestia missing, it was then he found her covered in his bath robe doing her duty and raising the sun. Naruto found the entire thing incredibly beautiful, especially how Celestia glowed with power through out the process. When it was finished Celestia climbed back into bed and cuddled up to Naruto.

"Good morning my handsome love," Celestia said leaning up for a kiss.

"Same to you my beautiful princess," Naruto replied kissing her and pulling her close.

As comfortable as the two were they knew that their knew relationship came with a large amount of risks, both of them didn't want but knew they had to keep quiet about it unless they risk it blowing up in their face.

Celestia sighed and looked up at Naruto "I'm sorry to say this but we have to keep quiet about our relationship, the reasonability's we both have not to mention your history would interfere in our relationship."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement, "yeah I can easily see pony's complaining about you being seen in a relationship with some pony beneath your station."

Celestia smiled lovingly at Naruto, she was glad he understood the matter and didn't try to force the issue making it difficult for both. The two quickly got up and prepared for their duties, Celestia had the sun court today and Naruto was on guard duty for the court, so after a shower and breakfast the two prepared themselves for another day.

In the throne room Celestia sat down on her throne and Naruto assumed his position as guard for the duration of the court. The other guards on duty couldn't help but feel that there was something going on between Naruto and Celestia, because through out the day they could have sworn they were talking quick glances at each other at several occasions.

It would be a few days later that Celestia wound introduce him to her sister Luna, Naruto had seen her several times in passing but never held a conversation with her.

It was evening in Canterlot, Naruto and Celestia were taking a stroll through the gardens, Celestia used the excuse of asking Naruto to accompany her to spend some alone time with him.

The two would be interrupted by the sounds of wings flapping, when they looked up they saw it was Luna appearing before them.

Celestia smiled at Luna, she was always happy to see her sister especially since she had fully recovered from her time as Nightmare Moon. She also noticed the blush on her face when she looked at Naruto, Celestia shook her head knowing full-well that Naruto attracted a lot of attention from various mares.

Luna was surprised to see her sister in the gardens with a guard, usually she preferred to walk around by herself to get away from her duties and just relax. As she got closer to the pair, she began to see the guard in more detail and couldn't help but think about how handsome the guard was.

"Naruto as you already know this is my younger sister Luna, I know you two haven't been formally introduced until now, Luna this is Naruto a rising member of the royal guard, who joined Star Blitz's squad," Celestia said.

Naruto bowed to Luna "It's a pleasure to meet you Princess Luna, you sister has told me may wonderful things about you."

"Same to you Naruto, my sister has spoken highly about you on several occasions. I have also heard remarkable things about you from Star Blitz, she is happy to have you apart of her squad," Luna replied.

Naruto couldn't help but blush heavily and rub the back of his head in embarrassment, both Celestia and Luna found this to be cute.

"I can only imagine what things my sister as told you about me, perhaps you can accompany me so I can return the favor," Luna replied giving her sister the stink eye and wrapping her arms around Naruto's.

Celestia giggled at her sister's reaction, she enjoyed being able to tease her sister once again but stopped when she noticed her sister's actions. She grabbed Naruto's other her arm and stuck her tongue out her sister.

"Come along Naruto, we still haven't finished our walk so please excuse us sister," Celestia said trying to pull Naruto away from her sister.

Luna however didn't let go of Naruto's arm instead merely held on tighter, she refused to let go of the handsome stallion. The tie however would be broken by Naruto.

"Unfortunately I must stop this here, the rest of the squad and I have a mission tomorrow, so I need to get ready for it since we are leaving early in the morning," Naruto said pulling his arms free and bidding both mares a goodnight.

As soon as Naruto was out of sight Celestia turned to her sister, "So, what do you think of Naruto? Is the Princess of the Night looking for a consort?"

Luna blushed heavily at the questions, she wouldn't deny that Naruto was a handsome stallion and she wouldn't mind spending more time getting to know him better, she started thinking about claiming Naruto for herself.

Starting from that night the two sisters would subtly try to influence Naruto in separate ways, both wanting the stallion for themselves. Those closest to the sisters who knew what was going on found great amusement in the situation, the fact that both royal sisters were interested in the same stallion was very funny to them.

Unfortunately for Naruto the Princesses actions would draw unwanted attention to him and cause rumors to start spreading around Canterlot. The main ones being how he was using unknown means to seduce the Princesses, this led to problems for Naruto as pony's started believing the rumors and turning against Naruto.

It would be hard for Naruto to work with any pony outside his squad except for a select few, the others choosing to believe the rumors and give Naruto a tough time for toying with the hearts of the sisters or believing that he as stepping outside the status quo.

Naruto would be called before the Princesses to be told he was being reassigned to Ponyville to serve as a guard for the town, Mayor Mare had been requesting a squad of guards to help protect the town from the dangerous threats that seemed to be attracted to the town.

Celestia assigned him to this position for two different reasons, one being he was a former resident of the town so he knew the town and the pony's that lived their and wouldn't stand out too much, the second being the rumors spreading around Canterlot both Celestia and Luna wanted to get Naruto away from the foolish nobles who were no doubt behind the rumors about him.

When Naruto arrived back in Ponyville only a few ponies recognized him because it had been several months since he left for Canterlot to join the Royal Guard. The mayor was shocked at who Celestia sent to guard the town.

Naruto stood in front of Mayor Mare, his arms were behind his back and his knees were slightly bent, to the Mayor it looked like he could spring in to action in an instant.

"You're the last pony I was expecting when I heard that Princess Celestia was sending a guard over, I can tell from your records that you are over qualified for the position," Mayor Mare said trying hard to fight down the blush on her face because of the attractive stallion in front of her.

Naruto nodded his head, "I know Celestia had my former home rebuilt and made larger so that will take care of a place of residence, the only thing I ask is you try not to raise any attention towards me because of what happened when I left."

Mayor Mare nodded her head knowing full well the problems would occur if it was leaked that he had return, there were still those who held Naruto in a darker light because of his past.

To keep a low profile and avoid any pony from recognizing him he used dyes to change his mane and tail colors. It worked well but he still attracted mares much like before.

It was quiet in Ponyville with the main threats being attacks from the monsters that lived in Ever Tree woods, the main threats being the Timber wolves who attacked in packs and in numbers that hadn't been seen before. The wolves were also showing strange signs such as dripping a strange black ooze from their mouths and what looked like moving tentacles inside their bodies.

Things would go back to normal for a while, but Naruto had a feeling that they would be picking up again like they usually would. Naruto would be correct in that feeling as his life would pick up following an incident where he saved a young mare from a small pack of blackened timber wolves, blackened timber wolves is what he called the strange mutation of the timber wolves.

The mare he saved had powder blue fur coloring and a snow white main and tail with icy blue highlights. She was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a turtle neck sweater with a snowflake pattern on the left side.

The mare smiled at Naruto "Thank you for saving me form those monsters, I would have perished if not for you. My name is Snow Angel, do you mind telling me yours."

Naruto waved off her thanks, "Don't worry about it, just be more careful from now one, the woods are becoming more dangerous these days. As for my name just call me Maelstrom."

The next day he would receive a shock as the mare that he saved last night had tracked him down in order to thank him for rescuing her.

Naruto was having a quiet breakfast when he heard someone knocking at his door, wondering how it could be Naruto quickly walked to the door, when he opened it, he saw it was the mare from last night.

Naruto raised an eyebrow in thought "What brings you here this morning?"

Snow Angel smiled at Naruto "I wanted to thank you for saving me from the wolves, I heard about the wolves, but I didn't think I would ever encounter them."

Naruto just shook his head "Don't worry about just be more careful, I am guessing you went to the mayor to find me?"

Snow nodded her head "I wanted to thank you in person, the mayor said you prefer to keep to yourself, but I still wanted to meet you again."

Any further conversation was canceled out by the sound of Snow's stomach growing, Naruto looked at her with a questionable gaze while Snow blushed from the attention her stomach brought to her.

Naruto sighed "Why don't you come in and have something to et since you came out here to see me, from the sound of things you skipped or haven't had breakfast yet."

Snow was about to decline his offer when her stomach made decision for her, she followed Naruto inside hoping to talk with Naruto some more.

Naruto guided Snow into the kitchen and put together an omelet for her and a few pancakes for himself, through out breakfast Snow would continue to ask different questions hoping to find out more about him.

Some questions he answered others he chose not to, eventually asked why he chose to live alone on the outskirts of the town rather than in it.

"In the past I tried to do that and open myself to others, but rumors began spreading around that destroyed my reputation and credibility around the town. I moved away only for the rumors to follow me and history to repeat itself, being by myself is easier then dealing with pony's who don't bother to find out the truth," Naruto answered.

Snow was shocked by his words; she had heard about the rumors but when she questioned what they were based on it seems like a never-ending string of pony's created the rumors. She was far from intimidated by Naruto's warning this mealy made her want know more about him.

Every day she would come back to either ask questions or just find more about him, she would talk about her job as a nurse and her family in Ponyville. Naruto had to admit the mare was persistent in getting to know him, she always came back the next day to either talk or just have a meal together.

Soon enough Naruto began to enjoy her visits, looking forward to seeing her smiling face or hearing about her day. After a while she asked for a date with him, he opposed the idea at first because of history but Snow wore him down enough to the point he agreed to go on a date with her.

The two would come together after several dates, the towns ponies were surprised at the news, since the mysterious guard was always seen as a loner and rarely in the company others. It was their first Hearth Warming Eve that they would solidify their relationship, but it was soon after that everything would take a turn for the worst.

One day Snow didn't show up, this didn't worry Naruto to much at first thinking that she could be running late due to one reason or another but as time went by Naruto started to get an all too familiar feeling that something bad had happened.

His suspicions were confirmed went into town to only get arrested on the spot, the crime he was charged with was the murder of Snow and her family, he fought back asking what proof they had of his involvement in the crime but is words fell on deaf ears.

He was brought before the Princesses and the bearers for his crimes, he remembered seeing the colt-friends of the bearers present as well. He could see the looks of disgust in their eyes believing that he committed the murders.

The colt friends would suggest that he imprisoned in the crystal catacombs beneath the castle for the rest of his life. The others agreed with the punishment and so he found himself down her in a cell door that only the Princesses could open, the lock always required a unique key to open that Celestia kept on her person.

**(Flashback end)**

Naruto opened his eyes, his trip down memory lane was the farthest thing from a pleasant journey. The time in his cell gave him time to think on everything, he knew he was set up and he had a hunch that the ones who set him up are the new colt-friends of the bearers, he could only guess what their reasons were for everything they did was.

Naruto looked down at his right arm, unlike the rest of his body his arm was an unusual color and had a separate pattern then the one on the rest of his body. The fur was black with a glowing red pattern, he remembered how this change happened a few months after his imprisonment.

He remembered how his was meditating to focus his thoughts and figure out what was going on and who was behind everything. He was pulled from his thoughts by strange noises coming from the cavern area, when he approached the bars to see what was out there, he saw three strange blobs approaching his cell.

The first blob was black with a red wave pattern, the second was silver with a blue streak pattern, and the last one was grey with yellow triangle pattern. The blobs slipped through the bars of his cell door and attached them selves to his body before entering his body through his pores.

What Naruto felt next was enormous amount of pain, it reminded him of when he was turned into chimera, he passed out from the pain only to awaken with his mane and tail changed to the coloring of the silver blob and his right arm the black ones colors. What felt strange to Naruto was that the changes felt natural to him which raised a lot of questions in his mind.

Naruto began hearing footsteps and felt two ponies approaching his cell, he felt that they weren't the royal guard but were familiar to him. Naruto started to get a bad feeling about the two, the feeling getting stronger as the two approached, it was when they stepped into the light that he knew why they were so familiar to him.

They were both stallions, the one on the left was an older stallion with grey fur and a white mane, he wore a monocle in his right eye and was hunched over with his hands behind his back. He wore a white lab coat with a black long sleeve shirt underneath and black dress pants and dress shoes, he also had an average size horn signaling that he was a unicorn.

The other stallion was an earth pony, he possessed a large muscular build and had reddish-brown fur and his mane and tail were a steel grey mane and tail. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and ripped blue jeans; he gave off an intimidating aura that would cause most ponies to become extremely nervous around him.

They were Dr. Mixed Elixir and Steel Bones; the doctor was head of the chimera project at the facility and the other served as an enforcer for the facility pushing anyone who broke the rules or got out of line.

"Well, well, well, look how the mighty have fallen, the colt who nearly destroyed my life's work finally get what he deserves," Dr. Mixed Elixir replied in a sarcastic tone.

Naruto said nothing, he finally understood who was manipulating every pony from the shadows, he thought as much but had no proof of their involvement.

Naruto walked up to the bars, "It's safe to assume that you're the master mind behind everything that has happened recently."

Dr. Mixed Elixir gave a bow "Yes, as you guessed everything was apart of my plan, you nearly destroyed my life's work so of course there would be consequences. So, what if we were kidnapping ponies and other creatures from across the lands it was all in the name of science!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the doctor's speech, "So, now that you had your revenge, are you here just to gloat in my face?"

"While that would be enjoyable to me, that is not why we're here for. You have proven to be a dangerous threat to the leaders plans, so you will be removed from the equation, do you can't destroy the cults work again," Dr. Mixed Elixir said with a dark grin on his face.

Naruto was confused by what the doctor said, he started to get a bad feeling and prepared himself from whatever they were going to through at him, but that proved to be a useless gesture because a massive seal appeared underneath his feet.

The seal had numerous runes etched onto itself, Naruto didn't recognize any of them, but he knew that he was in trouble, suddenly, the runes turned black and then a familiar black ooze appeared from inside the seal. Naruto tried to leap out of the seal but when he tried hands of black ooze took hold of him and pulled him down into the darkness. The last thing Naruto saw before the darkness consumed was the smirking face of the doctor waving goodbye to him.

The pair made their way back to the exit, their task completed, unaware that this wouldn't be the last they see of Naruto. The pair walked back in silence; both were happy that the pony that caused them so many problems is gone but Steel Bones wondered if they dealt with Naruto the right way.

"I thought the Leader wanted him dead or imprisoned somewhere under our control, why did you send him somewhere else? Is there a chance that he could return to cause problems for us?" Steel Bones asked curious about the doctor's motives.

Steel Bones knew that Dr. Mixed Elixir was a stallion of high intelligence, he had no problems doing whatever was needed to accomplish his goals. He was proof of the Doctor's work, he underwent special enhancement surgery combining machine and pony, the experiment worked he was superior to any regular pony.

The doctor chuckled at first at his partners question, his natural skills as a fighter and the enhancements he had obtained through his experimental surgery made him a monster in pony flesh. He had no problems with getting his hands dirty if the situation called for it, he enjoyed working with him because he was quiet unless he had questions that needed answering.

"Naruto is imprisoned in a cell that he can never escape from, the seal transported him to the void, he his bound there so even if he escapes the void will just drag him back every time. No pony has ever escaped that place and I doubt no one ever will," Dr. Mixed Elixir said

The two soon reached the entry hall that lead to the outside, the members of the royal guard that watched over the entrance lay in various spots on the ground. It would seem like they were sleeping if not for the obvious broken bones and blood on the ground. The guard had gotten in their way and payed the price for their loyalty.

"It's a shame that we couldn't keep any of them, they would have been valuable test subjects for my research and current experiments," Dr. Mixed Elixir said with a disappointed tone of voice.

Steel Bones said nothing just shakes his head, he was to use to the doctor's antics, he opened a portal to their base using a special item that he possessed.

Unbeknownst to the pair, there was another figure hiding in the shadows watching everything that went on in Naruto's cell. The figure was scouting to see if Naruto would be worth saving to help him get revenge against the cult.

The figure soon noticed a glowing spot in Naruto's former cell, the glow formed a strange flower that was made of strange glowing petals. The Flower was closed with its petals wrapped up tonight, another thing the figure noticed was the flower had what looked the solar princess's cutie mark on it.

"So, the cult has made their move against Naruto, he may prove to be a useful ally against them, no doubt Celestia, Luna, and the others will want to be aware of what happens to him but how to go about it?" the figure thought out loud.

The figure stepped into the light revealing a strange male figure wearing a black and red jesters' outfit, his face was covered by a porcelain mask. The mask face was shaped like a demonic face, the eyes slanted with dark red eye covering, the mouth was a demonic grin.

The jester used his magic to form what looked like a comic book and put it on Naruto's bed, the cover showed what appeared to be a prison cell, with a pair of manacles hanging from a way connecting to a younger looking Naruto. The comic book showed Naruto's past before he came to Ponyville.

The Jester disappeared back into the shadows, he could hear the sounds of footsteps approaching the cell and didn't want to be around when they found out Naruto had disappeared.

**AN: This story has been in my mind for a while, so if anyone has questions for me feel free to ask. As for the Hunter story the hard copy of the next chapter is being written as I type, I will not give a release date for the new chapter because I don't know.**

**For those curious about jester, he has his own score to settle with the cult and will use anyone or any pony that he can to accomplish goals.**

**Any and all flamers and hate mail will be ignored.**

**Revised versions of the chapters of the hunter story, will be posted at the same time.**


	2. Reactions from home

**AN: ****Hello and welcome to the newest chapter in this story, I apologize for the long wait in between chapters but I have been dealing with a change in my job. I work full-time instead of part-time and my work has been affecting my writing, I have had difficulty focusing so please bear with me and my incredibly slow updates.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mlp both are owned by their respective people or groups.**

Celestia remembers when she first laid eyes upon Naruto, she had heard of him from numerous letters from Twilight. In her letters, Twilight had spoken very highly of him saying that he was a kind and caring stallion that always put the needs of others first.

Celestia would learn he joined up with the guard because of the rumors running rampant in Ponyville, she was saddened that such a thing happened to a nice stallion but was impressed that he didn't allow one event to give up on everything but instead chose to keep moving forward.

Celestia would see him multiple times on duty or patrol, she did not know why but she found himself drawn to the stallion for unknown reasons. Something about him reminded her of another stallion that she knew from long ago, she and her sister would end up falling in love with him only to lose him when he died protecting them from a great evil.

She had created the disguise of Glowing Sol to get a break from the burden of running the nation, she never expected to meet up with Naruto and become so close to him in the short amount of time that she knew him.

When the time came to tell him the truth about herself and Glowing Sol, he did not get angry or try to force her into anything or try to blackmail her into getting bits or becoming a noble. He just held her tight and told her that everything would be okay, it was this act that made her realize how much she loved him, and she showed him that night.

The two of them would form a relationship behind closed doors, neither one wanted to bring their relationship out in the open for fear of what troubles it would bring on the other. When she introduced him to her sister, Celestia did not know but Luna would have the same reaction as herself, but Luna's reaction would be stronger than hers was from the start.

Now besides trying to keep their relationship out of the public eye, Celestia had to worry about competing with Luna for Naruto's affections. Unfortunately, this would lead to the two sisters competing for Naruto's affections. Their completion with one other would draw unwanted attention to Naruto, many nobles would start to see Naruto negatively and would start causing problems for him.

Both she and Luna worried for Naruto, the nobles started creating more rumors to disgrace Naruto. He never let any of them interfere with his work or let them bother him, but the sisters were getting frustrated with the ponies spreading rumors around.

As the rumors got more out of control the sisters looked for a way for Naruto to get away from Canterlot for a while so they could deal with the foolish ponies starting rumors for their benefit.

It currently did Celestia receive a message from Mayor Mare about strange creatures and rising concern about the Timberwolves in EverTree forest. They sent Naruto there to monitor the situation and act when necessary when needed.

Naruto kept them updated through an enchanted necklace that worked like Spikes flame messaging, they were concerned with the rising attacks from monsters and the changes some of them were going through. Upon examining the remains of the monsters, they revealed they were being influenced by dark magic but who was doing it was a mystery.

Naruto also told them about Snow Angel, a mare he rescued from a Timberwolf attack. He wrote about how it started as a friendship but became something deeper with time and their relationship soon turned into a love for one other.

Just as everything was looking so good for Naruto did everything quickly fall apart, the events happened quickly one after the other. First was the murder of Snow Angel and her family with all evidence pointing towards Naruto, then came his imprisonment which made countless nobles overcome with joy.

The nobles saying that Naruto got what he deserved for trying to date Celestia and Luna when such a privilege should only be reserved for the most deserved stallions, not a filthy commoner.

Naruto's squad was in deep shock over his imprisonment, all of them were defending his innocence but the evidence was to over willingly against him. They were unhappy about it, but their hands were tied unless new evidence became known to clear Naruto of the charges.

It was after his imprisonment that many stallions came forth hoping to woo the princess and fill the void in their hearts that Naruto had left. They drew a line when they started and-mouthing Naruto to get in their good graces but that only angered the princesses, they said that Naruto would be the only stallion that they would allow into their hearts.

Unfortunately, it would be a year before the truth would come out and the real ponies behind the murders would be revealed. Celestia closed her eyes as she remembered how everything became known, it would be an accident that spike would uncover the truth and the ones in the shadows manipulating everything from the shadows.

[b](Flashback)[/b]

In a familiar library in Ponyville, a certain dragon was going about his day doing his normal chores, it had been a year since Naruto was imprisoned and Twilight and the others have moved on, each had found new relationships with different stallions.

As he dusted around the library, he collected books that were left around from various study sessions to be put back on the back on the shelves. There times he wished that Twilight would remember to put the books she took back on the shelf.

One of the books he collected was a book with a worn cover and yellow pages on the inside. Spike just chalked it to another book that Twilight had picked up.

Spike put the book down on a table with others to be re-shelved, later as Spike was re-shelving books the worn book was knocked to the ground with its opening upon impact. Spike went over to pick up the book but noticed it was opened and his natural curiosity made him look inside.

As spike read the book, he realized that the book was a journal belonging to Twilight's colt-friend Swift Quill, and to his horror, the journal painted a horrific picture of who he was. The journal revealed that he and his friends were behind the rumors that were spread about Naruto and it also revealed how he and his friends were the ones who killed Snow Angel and her family.

Spike was horrified by what he just read before every pony turned against Naruto the two of them were best buds. He would invite him out on gem hunts, come to the library to swap stories, and just have fun with him when Twilight and the others were off on missions for the Princess and other things.

Now that he knew the truth, he had to tell Twilight and the others as soon as possible. He would also send a message to Princess Celestia to get the guard involved just in case things got ugly.

In a stroke of good luck, Twilight entered the library has gone out to run errands, Spike ran forward with the journal in hand. Twilight immediately knew something was wrong from Spikes' behavior.

"Twilight, you need to read this!" Spike exclaimed while waving the book in his hands.

Twilight grabbed Spikes's shoulders to calm him down, "alright, I will but first, you need to calm down."

Spike took several deep breathes while Twilight took the book that Spike was waving around, as Twilight read the book, she realized it was Swift Quills journal from his handwriting.

Spike looked at Twilight's face as she read the journal, he noticed the various emotions on her face. The first was a shock which then turned into horror as she read everything that her colt-friend and his friends had done. The journal also revealed that the stallions were just toying with their emotions and used them to get to Naruto.

By the time Twilight was finished reading the journal, she was in tears at the end of it. She never imagined that any pony could do something so horrific, she knew she had to tell the others and Princess Celestia right away.

"Spike this is a horrific discovery, we have to warn the others and contact Princess Celestia right away," Twilight said while wiping away the tears in her eyes.

Spike nodded his head in agreement, first, they would get the others together and show them the journal, then they would contact Princess Celestia for help on the matter.

Before they could head out the library door opened and a unicorn stallion walked in the room, the stallion had a light grey coat with a chestnut brown mane and tail. he was wearing a pair of black dress pants a navy-blue shirt and a dark grey vest. This was Twilights colt friend Swift Quill, who did not know how much trouble he was in.

Quill walked in the room to see Twilight and spike talking in a hushed tone, as he walked closer, they noticed him in the room. He was confused as to why Spike seemed to be glaring at him while Twilight was looking at him with a scared look on her face.

Before he could ask what, the matter was that had then so upset, he noticed that Twilight had his journal in her hands. Quill knew he was in deep trouble and had to act fast, he knew it would not be long until her friends found out the truth.

Twilight was already preparing a spell to capture him, but Quill reacted faster firing off a magic blast that threw Twilight and Spike against a bookshelf and then ran out the door to warn the others.

Spike managed to recover first and then rushed over to Twilight to make sure she was okay before helping her get to her feet.

"Twilight are you ok? That jerk is going to pay for what to us," Spike said while slamming his fist into his hand.

"Before that, we need to warn the others, since Quill escaped, we need to send a message to Princess Celestia," Twilight replied.

Half an hour later everypony was gathered in the library, the rest of the girl's colt friends had disappeared already. Applejack and Rarity had also found journals like the one Twilight had found.

"I can't believe they had been playing us the entire time, they murdered an innocent family and then set Naruto up to take the fall," Rainbow Dash said in a sad tone.

"I'm afraid it's true, the stallions we loved were just playing us while they were monsters in disguise," Twilight replied.

Everypony in the room was shaken by what they discovered, Fluttershy and Rarity were horrified by the actions of the stallions while Pinkie pie was in tears at the fact, she had turned her back on one of her oldest friends. Rainbow Dash and Applejack wanted to track the stallions down and get answers from them as to why they did what they did.

The reason they had not gone out to try and find the stallions as they were waiting for a squad of the royal guard to arrive to help them arrest the stallions.

"Don't worry sugar cube, once the guard arrives, we'll head out and track those varmints down and they will pay for their crimes," Applejack replied.

Applejack clenched her fists in anger as she remembered what she discovered in her colt-friends journal Shaken Earth, his journal talked about how they were given a chance to ruin Naruto's life from a strange stallion the group had met.

What angered Applejack was the way Shaken Earth written about AppleBloom, he wrote about her in disturbing and uncomfortable ways. She had a dark idea as to what he wanted to do to Applebloom, but she would not let the creep touch her sister.

Rarity was consoling a crying Fluttershy, both had been crying heavily after the truth was revealed about their colt-friends. Fluttershy should have known something was wrong with Silent Heart, Angel bunny and the rest of her animal friends did not like him at all and tried to keep him away from her.

Rarity was concerned for Sweetie Bell, the journal she had found was like the one Applejack had found with Class Act talking about her little sister in a disgusting manner. The CMC was with Big Mac on the farm until the Stallions were arrested, Big Mac was furious when he heard the news if it wasn't for the fact, he was protecting the CMC he would hunt down the stallions himself.

Pinkie was sitting down her mane and tail had gone flat due to how sad she was feeling with the learning of the truth. She like the others had thought the stallions genuinely loved them but they were just lying phonies who just wanted to use them.

She did not understand how they were so easily taken in by their charm, looking back Pinkie was confused about how easily the stallions wormed their way into their lives and how they turned their back on Naruto. They had known Naruto for years, but they turned on him so easily, it just did not make any sense.

The group was pulled from their thoughts by the sound of knocking on the door, Spike moved to answer letting in a tall stallion dressed in full armor. The stallion took off his helmet revealing his white fur tone and multi-shaded blue mane. He was Shinning Armor captain of the Royal Guard and proud older brother to Twilight Sparkle.

"Shining your leading this mission? It's also nice to see you as well," Twilight said as she hugged her older brother.

Shining returned the hug, "When I heard what happened I volunteered to lead the mission to capture the stallions."

When Shining learned of the truth about the bearer's colt-friends he was furious behind words, when he heard that a squad would be deployed to capture the stallions, he immediately leaped at the chance to lead the group.

Twilight easily so the real reason on why Shining wanted to lead the mission, she knew he wanted to get the first crack at Swift Quill for hurting her and deceiving her.

The bearers glanced at the group of armored ponies how were waiting to be deployed, among the armored figures there were two mares in matching jumpsuits. The mares were Spitfire and Fleetfoot, the commander and third in command of the Wonderbolts.

They had volunteered to come on this mission when they learned there was information that clear Naruto of the charges against him and get him released from his prison.

Shining was curious about how they knew Naruto, but he chose not to pry into their personal lives. He remembered both had leaped at the chance to come on this mission when they learned about how Naruto was going to be cleared of his crimes.

Twilight had made sure to let Dash know ahead of time that they would be here, she knew her friend would be excited at the fact they are here but they needed to focus on the mission first, she hoped that Dash could talk to them after the mission was complete.

"I will go over the mission parameters: the goal is to capture the stallions as alive and unharmed if possible. There is a chance they are working with an unknown party, so I want every pony to be careful. We have found tracks that lead into Evertree woods, so we will work in teams as a precaution against any threat," Shining Armor said.

"Zecora is familiar with the woods will be joining up with the group once we enter the woods since she lives in the woods and she knows the area, so she will be an invaluable resource in tracking the stallions," Shining said.

Every pony in the room nodded in understanding, they all knew how dangerous Evertree was, so they were not taking any chances. Shining had sent out a few scouts to spot any tracks from the air and ground, as soon as they returned, they would head out.

Suddenly, a pegasus guard burst into the library, he was panting heavily due to how fast he flew.

"Captain, we found the stallions, they are grouped in a clearing a little way into Evertree woods," the pegasus guard said.

"Okay you heard him, let's move out and capture these criminals before they get another chance to run away again," Shining Armor said.

At the same time in the clearing, the ex-coltfriends of the bearers were waiting for their allies to get them to safety. Swift Quill looked at the others, most of them and worried looks on their faces as they waited. Swift's mind went back to when the group first meet the strange doctor and his silent partner, they approached the group at a bar both were unusual looking stallions and gave off a strange feeling.

One was a tall earth pony stallion that could rival Big Mac in height, while he looked fairly then something told Swift that he was stronger than he appeared to be. When he looked at the stallion, he smiled back at him showing his teeth were not normal but appeared to be made from metal. He had a brown mane and tail with a tannish fur color.

The other was a shorter stallion dressed in a doctor's outfit complete with a lab coat, he was a unicorn with a dark golden fur tone and fading yellow hair. He was a pair of wire-rimmed glasses over his golden eyes. Swift felt from the beginning that the doctor was dangerous, something seemed off about him.

The doctor talked about how he could give them a chance to get back at Naruto, to put him in his place where he belonged and out of their sights. They had felt that he never belonged in their town because he was a freak in their eyes.

They talked it over and then leaped at the chance to put Naruto where he belonged or drive him away from their town.

The doctor gave them false evidence of him cheating on each of the bearers allowing them to swoop in and when the affections of the bearers. This allowed them to access some of the benefits that the bearers had and bask in their celebrity status.

For a while, it worked, and Naruto would eventually leave Ponyville, there were set in their relationships with the bearers, so everything was working out perfectly for them.

Unfortunately, Naruto would return to Ponyville, what was strange at first was he avoided the public eye as much as possible. They did not notice his return until one of the group head him talking to a mare that worked as a nurse in the hospital.

They would be visited by a strange stallion who worked with the mad doctor from earlier, he was a handsome unicorn stallion. He had silver mane and tail and a grey fur tone; he was a major play-colt known for breaking hearts.

His name is Silver Tongue, he is a master manipulator and the one responsible for destroying Naruto's reputation in the Ponyville. He is known for taking pleasure in manipulating others for his gain and watching them destroy themselves to earn his favor.

"You already know that Naruto as returned, this could be a problem for us because he could start snooping and around and uncover the truth on who spread those lies," Silver said.

The stallions looked nervous, if Naruto uncovered the truth, they would be in serious trouble for themselves.

"We already have a plan in motion we just need you to do what you are told to do," Silver replied.

The stallions nodded their heads in agreement, they waited until the right moment then broke into Snow Angel's home and killed her and her family. After that, they used the evidence given to them to paint Naruto as the guilty one.

Silver worked behind the scenes using his natural ability to cloud the minds of the town's residents and make them turn against Naruto and see him as a monster. The plan was an enormous success and the stallions went back to their lives with the bearers.

Now everything was falling apart due to their foolish mistakes, they could only hope that their allies would help them once more.

The silence in the area was broken by approaching footsteps, the group started to worry until they saw it was the doctor and his companions. This brought a sigh of relief to the stallions, they believed that they were in the clear and nothing else to worry about.

The trio was led by the same doctor as to when they first met him, the tall stallion and Silver Tongue were with him. Swift Quill began to get a bad feeling welling up inside of him, but he just waved it off as tension from the situation he is currently in.

"Well, well, well, you boys have landed yourselves into a heap of trouble. It would be awfully bad for us and our associates if you were captured, so we have been sent to take care of you," the doctor said with a menacing grin on his face.

Shaken Earth approached the doctor, "Okay, let's get a move on before any pony shows up."

The doctor only chucked at the frightened stallions' words, the bad feeling Swift Quill had returned in force as he realized what was going to happen to them. The group was here to take them away they were here to dispose of them to prevent them from talking.

"I'm afraid you and the others have served your purpose and are no longer needed to us. So, to prevent you from talking we have been sent to deal with you," the doctor said while motioning to the tall stallion behind him.

The stallion nodded his head and walked forward and grabbed Shaken by his shoulder with one hand before making a fist with his other. The stallion then slammed his hand through Shaken's chest.

Shaken looked down to see the stallion's arm in his chest up to his elbow, the others behind Shaken could see the stallion arm coming through Shaken's chest and his heart clenched in his hand before it was crushed.

The other stallions were horrified by the action and knew they were next unless they could escape to safety. The panicked stallions tried to run away but a barrier blocked their escape except for Swift he managed to sneak away but not for long.

[b](With the Bearers and the Guard)[/b]

The bearers and the guard were approaching the clearing that the stallion was sited in, as they closed in on the clearing Shining forced everypony to come to a halt and ordered the other members of the guard to form a perimeter around the clearing to prevent any pony from escaping the clearing.

Shining motioned the group forward into the clearing, the tension in the air was thick and there was a strange stench in the air. Everypony could feel that something was very wrong, the closer they got to the center the worse the feeling became.

The group slowly entered the center of the clearing to find a horrific sight before them, the bodies of the bearer's colt-friends were displayed throughout the area all of them killed horrifically.

The clearing was littered with the bodies of the wanted stallions, all of them had been killed in a gruesome manner. The bearers were horrified by the carnage, they never wanted this for the stallions that hurt them.

"This is horrifying, who or what could have done this?" Twilight asked.

The others went in any better shape, the sight before them was a nightmare they never wanted to witness. Shining quickly ordered the guard to close off the area and try and find clues to who or what did this.

Before the guard could follow Shining orders, a scream was heard from the far side of the clearing, realizing that there could be survivors everypony rushed forward to the screaming.

As the group moved forward a terrified Swift Quill burst from the woods, they could see he had numerous tears on his clothing and several different cuts on his body. Overall, he was in rough shape, he noticed the bearers and the guard and tried to move towards them but was stopped when something wrapped around his legs.

Twilight moved forward to help but was stopped when Applejack grabbed her arm, "what are you doing he needs help?" Twilight asked.

"Look behind him, if you go out there you will be killed as well sugar cube," Applejack replied.

Twilight looked and saw another stallion emerge from woods, Twilight heard Spitfire and Fleetfoot gasp in shock. Twilight wondered if they knew who the stallion was, but before any pony could do anything the large stallion caught up to Swift Quill.

He placed his hands-on Swift's head and killed him by snapping his neck in one fluid motion, everypony watching was horrified by what they saw. Before any of the guards could move out to deal with the stallion two more appeared from the woods in the same manner as the first one.

Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Zecora would once again gasp as the doctor and Silver emerged from the woods, the bearers and the guard were confused on who these ponies were and their relationship to their former colt-friends.

"Well done, I see that you have taken care of the last of them, "the doctor said while laughing calmly.

The doctor then glanced towards the other end of the clearing and saw a large group of ponies, there were the bearers and members of the royal guard. He also saw three familiar faces he had not seen in years.

The Doctor smiled at the three, "Isn't this such a joyous day, I'd never believed that I would see such familiar faces today. I remember the fun times we had together when I had you on my table and used you for my experiments."

The group members turned to the three mares in question, the looks on their faces told them that this was an unhappy reunion. All three of them had immense looks of rage on their face and wanted nothing more to hurt the doctor.

Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Zecora remembered him as one of the doctors who experimented on the prisoners of the cult. He was a part of the chimera research which was focused on combining ponies with a single creature to gain new abilities.

The three of them owed Naruto everything since he was the one to give them their lives back from when the cultists nearly destroyed them. They promised themselves they would pay him back in any way they could.

When he was brought in for the murder charges of Snow Angel and her family, they did what they could to fight against it, but the evidence was too strong against him. They knew that he was being set up, but they did not know who was doing it.

Now with the Doctor right in front of them did the pieces become clearer, everything was set up by the cult to get revenge on Naruto.

"So, you're still around you piece of trash I would have thought you would have found a nice ditch to crawl up and die in," Spitfire said with substantial amounts of venom.

Zecora nodded her head in agreement, "It is such a shame that we have met once again, I wish that your fate would be the same."

The others were more than a little confused at the hate-fueled words coming from their companions, Shining was the first to ask the question that everypony had on their minds.

"Spitfire, what is going on? How do you know that strange stallion, what does he mean by experimenting on you?" Shining asked.

"That is a long story, it will have to wait until we have done with our current situation. I have no intention of letting these monsters go, they need to face the consequences for their crimes," Spitfire replied in an angry tone of voice.

The sound of laughter rang out through the clearing, looking forward the group saw it was the doctor that was laughing. The group wondered what was so funny especially the situation he and his companion are currently in.

"What do you find to be so funny in case you haven't noticed it yet you and you're your companion are outnumbered here. There is nowhere you can escape to without one of us stopping you in your tracks," Rainbow Dash replied.

The doctor merely raised an eyebrow at the arrogant mare's declaration, as much fun it would be to toy with her and the rest of their group it was time for them to go since the cleanup was done.

"You shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions; you haven't caught us yet and you won't catch us today. I look forward to telling the others about our little reunion," the doctor replied.

Shining stepped forward, "Not so fast, I'm placing you both under arrest for your numerous crimes."

The doctor only chuckled at the accusations, "I'm sorry to disappoint you but we must be going, do be kind and give the sister princesses my regards."

The doctor then pulled a round bottle with a long neck from his coat, the bottle contained a strange dark amber liquid.

Before the guard could move out and contain the prisoners, the doctor opened the bottle and poured it on the ground in front of him. The liquid turned into a cloud of smoke that enveloped both the doctor and the stallion, when it cleared both were gone.

"What! How did they do that? What was that strange liquid?" Twilight asked aloud.

"Search the area for any clues, examine everything for evidence that will lead us to find them," Shining ordered.

Twilight and the others turned to the three mares that seemed to know the strange stallions, they were hoping they could fill in the blanks on what was going on.

"I know you have questions but now is not the time or place for them, we will gladly answer all of them. Let us return home and then the story shall be told once again," Zecora said.

The bearers nodded they wanted to leave this area, the ones most affected were Fluttershy and Rarity. The just wanted to get away from this horrific place and rid their minds of what they saw in the clearing.

Shining walked up to the group, "Twilight I'm having a squad escort you and your friends back to Ponyville, while the group may be gone, I'm not taking any chances of anything happening."

Spitfire and Fleetfoot walked towards the group, "We'll be joining the escort, we are not needed here and head back as well."

The group quickly back through the woods, everypony was quiet with what they had seen in the woods. Twilight and the others wanted their former colt-friends to be punished but not at this extreme level.

Twilight wanted to return to the library as soon as possible to check on Spike and start talking to Zecora and the others about their connection to that strange stallion in the doctor's coat.

As the group entered the library Spike came running up to them a scroll held tightly in his claws while calling Twilight's name.

"Twilight tour back; I just got an urgent message from Princess Celestia. She wants you, the others along with Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Zecora to come as well. She is sending a carriage to collect every pony," Spike said.

"Right now, I wonder what she needs from us?" Twilight asked.

"I suppose we will find out when we get their sugar cube," Applejack replied.

The then headed outside where a large carriage was awaiting them, several pegasus guards were pulling the chariot. Everypony got inside except for Spitfire and Fleetfoot who chose to fly alongside the carriage with the guard.

The mood inside of the carriage was quiet as everypony was trying to process what happened in the forest and who were those two strange stallions. They also wondered what their connection to their former colt-friends was and what did they not want to be found out that they were killed because of what they knew.

Twilight and her friend's thoughts soon turned to the friend that was set up for everything and who they betrayed so easily. He was a trusted friend and they turned their backs on him so easily, especially when their former colt-friends brought supposed evidence of him cheating on them.

Rainbow Dash was the one most affected because of her connection to the element of loyalty, she should have known that the friend she considered a brother would never do anything to hurt or betray her. He had been there for her numerous times when she had felt at her lowest, he was there offering her his hand to pull her back up to her feet.

She and the others that they could earn his forgiveness back with time, Princess Celestia was supposed to have him released from his cell due to the evidence clearing him for the murder of Snow Angel and her family.

They were pulled from their thoughts when they felt the chariot start its decent meaning they were arriving at the Castle. As Twilight and her friends disembarked, they prepared themselves for the long apology that they were going to give Naruto.

[b](Flashback end)[/b]

Celestia had sent a squad of guards to bring Naruto up from his cell and to the throne room, but instead of returning with him, they came back with horrific news. The guards that had been stationed to protect Naruto from any threats were killed and Naruto was missing from his cell.

Celestia knew that Naruto did not break out of his cell and kill the guards because his cell had special enchantments on it to alert her if any pony tried to enter or leave the cell without her knowing it.

Since the spells were still in place, some pony must have done something to Naruto while he was still in his cell. The pony or ponies would have to be strong since Celestia put her elite guard on the protection detail because she could trust them not to be influenced by any third party.

The guard brought back to items that were found in Naruto's old cell, one was a strange flower with her cutie mark on it and the other was a book with younger Naruto on the cover in rags with his wrists chained to the wall.

As Celestia read the book she realized it showed everything that had happened in Naruto's life from when he was born to his time when he was a prisoner of the cult and became a chimera. To growing up in Ponyville and everything else up until his last days in Equestria, Celestia wondered who or what made this book because it was far too detailed to be written normally.

As for the flower, Celestia recognized the flower as a unique magic flower that records anything that happens near it and replays it when magic is channeled into the flower. She could not help but wonder how it grew in Naruto's cell and what events did it record.

Celestia channeled her magic into the flower, the flower opened releasing a glowing up that enveloped the room. The orb showed Naruto resting in his cell then the two stallions approaching his cell and talking to him.

Celestia recognized the two from numerous descriptions from the ones that she and the guard rescued in the Badlands after escaping from the nightmarish facility. They among several high-ranking members of the cult managed to evade her grasp, all of them were highly dangerous criminals that she wanted to be found and captured to face their crimes.

Celestia remembered how she had found out about the hidden facility that was capturing her ponies and other innocent creatures from all over and using them for experiments. She and several squads of the royal guard to deal with the situation, instead, she would find a large group of ponies and other species worn down from the heat and other conditions.

As she talked with each of the leaders of the group, she would discover that their original leader, the one who gave them their freedom was lost shortly before escaping from the caverns. He started them on the path towards freedom but upon reaching a massive bridge across a bottomless cavern is when the monster that had been chasing them had appeared on the other side of it.

They talked about how he challenged the monster breaking its weapon before sending it into the darkness but before he could rejoin with the others the monsters ensnared him in its whip and pulled him into the darkness as well.

The memory would go on to show the scientist stallion bragging about the plan that destroyed Naruto's life and landed him in the cell. To prevent him from causing any more trouble for the cult they had been sent to deal with him, Celestia cried out as the stallion she loved was pulled into a strange arcane circle.

The memory ended their which left Celestia in tears because she had no idea what happened to Naruto, for all she knew the circle could have transported Naruto somewhere far away or to a hidden dungeon to keep him prisoner.

Celestia was pulled from her thoughts as a guard told her that Twilight, her friends, and a few others were waiting to come in. Celestia wiped her face of the tears and composed herself to face the others and the sad news that she would be giving them.

Twilight and the others entered the room, they could feel that something was wrong because of the tension in the air and the look on Celestia's face.

"I'm glad to see you all are ok, I wish this meeting could have happened under better circumstances before you say anything, I have already received a report on what happened in the woods. Shining Armor filled me in on the details in his report, I'm sorry what you had to see in the woods it wasn't my intention to expose you it such violence," Celestia said.

Spitfire was the first to step forward, "Princess I must ask is Naruto ok? Seeing Golden Scalpel and Jaws has us worried that something may have happened to Naruto, especially considering he was the one that revealed their plans to you."

"Princess Celestia, what is going on? Who were those strange stallions that appeared in the forest?" Rainbow Dash asked her curiosity peaked.

Celestia nodded her head, "The stallions you encountered in the woods belong to a very dangerous cult that I had encountered many years ago, despite my best efforts to unmask them and take down the cult they proved to be difficult to find. It was when the foal-napping occurred throughout Equestria was I able to start uncovering more about the mysterious cult."

The main six minus Applejack and Rainbow Dash gained confused looks on their faces, they never heard of any foal napping in large reports before.

"Umm, Princess Celestia what did you mean by foal napping?" Rarity asked.

"As Princess Celestia said, several years ago there were a large number of foal-napping occurring in both Equestria and the surrounding lands were stolen or bought from various cities and towns to serve as test subjects in a hidden facility in the badlands," Spitfire said.

The ones who were not aware of foal-napping were horrified that such an event took place, so many children ripped from their homes and the loving embrace of their families disgusted the bearers to know the end.

"Does that mean you are one of the lost one's Spitfire?" Twilight asked in a nervous tone.

Spitfire said nothing but nodded her head to confirm Twilight's question, she clenched her fist in anger as she remembered those dark times when they were imprisoned by the cult.

"The cult needed test subjects for their experiments so they went after children because they would be easy to mold into weapons under their control. The cult had various experiments going on, different ponies were selected for different experiments myself and Naruto were used in the Chimera experiment while others were used in either drug testing or the cyborg initiative," Spitfire said.

The bearers were shocked and disturbed by what Spitfire said, but at the same time, this explained Naruto's unique appearance.

"Is that why sparks and embers are coming from your hands, they started when you told us that was imprisoned by the cult and have steadily gotten stronger," Fluttershy said.

The others looked at Spitfire's clenched hands and saw the same thing that Fluttershy saw, like Naruto she had unique abilities granted to her by the cult's experiments. Spitfire had power over flames that she could summon at will, she learned how to better control, them as time went by.

"Yes, I gained the power to summon and control flames at will because of the cult's experiments. I also seemed to be able to heal at an accelerated rate, wounds that would take days or weeks to heal were healed in a few minutes," Spitfire said.

Spitfire demonstrated her fire conjuring ability by summoning a small fireball in her hands and making it change into a variety of shapes. The bearers especially Rainbow Dash were in awe at Spitfire's ability.

"If y'all do not mind me asking, why did Naruto's appearance change then? Yours didn't change because of the experiment?" Applejack asked.

Spitfire sighed aloud, she was going to answer Applejacks question she began to feel a chill and looked over at Fleetfoot to confirm her suspicion's. Fleetfoot had gained a faint Icy mist around her hands and wings, she was put through the same experiment as herself, but she preferred to keep her abilities under wrap unless necessary.

"The procedure that I went through and the one Naruto went through are two different ones, the one Naruto went through was much more dangerous than mine because of how they went about doing it and the number of creatures fused with the subject," Spitfire said.

"What do you mean by creatures darling?" Rarity asked.

"They used different creatures to make strong warriors, Naruto was fused with a breed of dragon and wolf hence why he looks the way that he does. I was combined with one and on a lighter scale hence why my appearance didn't change," Spitfire said.

"The cult used some form of alchemy to turn us into chimeras or transfer the powers of the monsters or test subjects into different hosts. It wasn't an uncommon sight to see a hosts body breakdown after the ritual, Naruto is the only pony to survive the one that turned him from an Earth pony into the chimera you all know him as," Fleetfoot said.

Everypony in the room that didn't know the truth was horrified and disgusted to learn what had happened to those imprisoned by the cult, the bearers especially were disgusted to hear what happened and understood why Naruto refused to talk about his past.

Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of Spitfire and Fleetfoot, she pulled both mares into a hug while sobbing loudly crying over the pain they had suffered.

"That is so sad that you and so many others were forced to go through that nightmare, but you all managed to escape that dark place and retake your lives that the cult stole from you. If you don't mind me asking but how did you and the others escape the cult?" Pinkie asked with large sparkling eyes.

"Pinkie brings up a good point, how did you and the others escape from the cult?" Twilight asked.

Spitfire told them how it was Naruto that started them on the path to freedom, he used the abilities that the cult gave him along with weapons that he stole from the cult lead them into the caves to escape the cult.

"It was when we reached a massive bridge overlooking a bottomless chasm that things took a darker turn, across the bridge we could see sunlight leading into what we would later learn to be the Badlands. Naruto had us move quickly across the bridge because there was something following us since we escaped the facility," Spitfire said.

Everypony was on the edge wanting to find out what happened to Naruto and what was following the group.

"Naruto helped those who had difficulty crossing the bridge themselves, it was when he was bringing the others over that he noticed there was a spot in the bridge were time had weakened it. He planned to break the bridge to stall the cult and give us time to run away. As Naruto was prepping for the final strike to break the bridge did the monster that had been following us reveal itself," Fleetfoot said.

"So, don't keep us in suspense what was chasing y'all and how did Naruto get separated from your group?" Applejack asked.

"A wall of flames erupted from the cavern where we had just left from which was followed by a massive roar that shook the cavern. From that flames did a monster emerge; we could do nothing as the monster approached Naruto on the bridge. The monster summoned a blade made of fire and swung it at Naruto with him swinging the ax he stole from the cult at the blade. The monsters blade shattered, and Naruto used his ax to break the bridge and send the monster into the endless darkness. As Naruto made his way to rejoin us did a flame whip crack and wrap around Naruto pulling him into the darkness," Spitfire said.

She remembers how helpless she felt on the bridge as she watched the one, she and the others considered to be their leader and strongest amongst themselves was pulled into the darkness and his believed death. They would end up being proven wrong later when they reunited with one other.

"We believed he was killed at the time and moved on hoping to finish what he had started when he had freed us from our shackles that the cult had forced upon us," Fleetfoot said.

The bearers wherein different emotional states upon hearing the end of their tale; Rarity and Fluttershy were in tears, Pinkie was openly sobbing at what had Naruto had been through, Applejack and Rainbow dash were clenching their fists in anger because of what their friend had suffered through, and finally, Twilight was horrified at what she had learned.

"We didn't learn that Naruto was alive until after he joined the guard and was serving under a friend of ours," Spitfire said.

"It was after the incident with the poison joke that Naruto sought me out after hearing of me from the others," Zecora said.

The bearers blushed in embarrassment as they remembered that event and the lesson that they learned about judging others by their appearance and the consequences that it can have.

"Umm, excuse me but we're getting a little sidetracked. Can we find out what happened to Naruto please if that's okay," Fluttershy said in a timid tone.

Celestia frowned, she wasn't looking forward to telling the others Naruto's fate, "I'm afraid I have bad news regarding Naruto when the guards went to retrieve him from his cell they discovered some pony else had gotten to him first."

Every pony was shocked by the news, they had heard the cell Naruto was placed in was a unique cell that had several different enchantments on it to keep Naruto locked up and to protect him from outside threats. The cell could only be opened by either Celestia or her sister, this raised the question who could have gotten past the spells.

"Princess Celestia, how is that possible? The cell was enchanted to prevent any pony from messing with Naruto, how could any pony break your spells?" Twilight asked with a concerned tone in her voice.

"We indeed enchanted the cell to only be opened by us or a special key that I kept hidden from everypony, yet somehow a pair of stallions managed that to do just that," Celestia replied.

"In the cell, we found a strange flower that bore my cutie mark and showed us what happened in the cell and a book showing Naruto's life from when he was born to his imprisonment," Celestia said.

Spitfire stepped forward, "Can you show us what happened to Naruto in the cell?" Spitfire asked.

Celestia nodded her head and grabbed the flower from the nearby table and channeled her magic into the flower. Everypony was shocked at Naruto's change in appearance but when the two stallions emerged from the shadows.

Every pony turned to Spitfire when they felt a large amount of heat coming off her, she was surrounded by flames but was slowly coming down after seeing that she had lost control of her powers.

The others watched as the memory ended with Naruto being pulled into a glowing arcane symbol on the ground, the flower closed itself once more signaling the end of the memory. Everypony in the room was silent as they processed what they had seen, two strange stallions had away taken their friend.

Who were they and what was their connection to Naruto?

"Okay, who were those two strange stallions? The one in the lab coat gave off an extremely dangerous feeling that is giving me the creepies?" Pinkie asked.

"The stallion in the doctor's coat is Mixed Elixir, he headed the most advanced level of the chimera project. The other pony is Steel Bones and he serves as Mixed Elixir's bodyguard as well as his right hand," Fleetfoot said.

"So, Mixed Elixir was the one responsible for making Naruto a chimera?" Luna asked.

Spitfire nodded her head, "Elixir took delight in the pain he caused, as long his personal goals were met, he would sacrifice any pony or anything to fulfill them."

The others were disgusted to learn about such a stallion would do such heinous crimes, he is a monster in the form of a pony.

"Umm, not to distract every pony but who placed the items in Naruto's cell since it seemed like whoever did want us to find them in the first place?" Pinkie asked.

This caused everypony in the room to stop and think, Pinkie raised a good question who placed the items in the cell and what was their motivation to do so. This raised so many questions but what made it more difficult was what little information they had to go on.

Everypony in the room was pulled from their thoughts when the sound of laughter broke the silence in the room.

They soon found the source of the laughter; it was coming from a strange figure dressed in a jester's outfit. The outfit was colored in various shades of purple and white, covering his face was a theater happy mask.

Rainbow Dash was the first to react and flew up towards the strange figure, "Just who the buck are you and how did you get here?" Rainbow demanded.

The jester stood up and laughed at Dash's question when she tried to tackle him, he just moved into the darkness and moved to a different location in the room.

"To answer your question, I am many things as for right now I am the only link you have to the friend you betrayed," the jester said.

Celestia stepped forward, "What do you want in return for helping us take back our friend?"

The jester shook his head, "There is nothing I want from you, I have a personal score to settle with the cult, and helping you benefit me in away.

Celestia frowned at the current situation, she did not trust this jester but more than anything she wanted the stallion she loved back in her arms once more. She would work with him, but she would be careful since he is after his own goals and what benefits himself.

"It seems we have little choice but to ask for your help then," Celestia said.

The jester laughed once more before moving in front of Celestia, she could tell he was far from an average pony or if he was a pony at all. Right now, he held all the cards and there was little she could do about it.

"As much fun as it is being the center of attention, I must take my leave now, new books will appear that document Naruto's journey through the void and the worlds he will traverse. Until must bid you ado until next, we meet then Princess," the jester said before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

Everypony in the room was confused and wondered who or what he was and what was the hidden connection to the cult was. Twilight looked to her teacher for guidance on what to do next but Celestia had no answer to give to Twilight she was just as confused as everyone else was.

"So, what happens now, do we wait until the cult makes their next move or until they make an appearance?" Rarity asked.

"I say we find those bastards and make them return Naruto to us," Rainbow dash said in an aggressive tone.

Applejack stepped forward and grabbed Dash by her tail and pulled her down, "Simmer down Dash. I know you want Naruto back so you can apologize to him, we all do but rushing off won't do us any good."

Dash knew Applejack was right but that still did not make her feel any better, she made a huge mistake that is eating away at her and there was only one thing she wanted to due to fix it.

"Unfortunately, that may be the case, I've tried numerous times to track the cult and its members but that has proven to be easier said than done. They are well versed at staying under the radar and know how to mask their movements to the point where I can't track them," Celestia said.

When she received word of a large group of ponies in other species wandering the Badlands in horrific conditions she leaped into action, she had several carriages ready and a squad of the royal guard to escort her to the Badlands and rescue the group.

The group was in even worse condition then she had first heard, most of them had severe burns from sun exposure others were on the brink of collapse. The leaders of the group spoke of the nightmarish place that they had escaped from and they told her of the brave colt that started them on the path to freedom.

She would help guide the former prisoners to rebuilding their lives and fitting in with society. The group never forgot the sacrifice of the colt and the life that he had given them, they lived their lives always thanking him for starting the journey.

The throne room was quiet as everypony wandered what will happen next, there were so many questions that needed answers, but they were grasping at straws unable to figure out where to start. The only certain thing was the fact the group was planning something dangerous and they needed to be careful in finding out what that was.

It was a few years after rescuing the group from the Badlands did, they uncover a cult base, however when the royal guard arrived all members of the cult were killed. Each member was cut down, but who did it was something they did not know.

Celestia wonders if the one responsible for that massacre was the same creature that was just here, he spoke of a grudge against the cult and maybe attacked the base looking for information.

Pinkie suddenly raised her hand, "I have a question, how did Zecora, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot meet up with Naruto. He never mentioned knowing you three in the past."

Zecora nodded her head and stepped forward, "Yes, I reunited with my friend, soon after the incident with the poison joke bloom."

"I would find out he was away from the town when the incident had occurred and sought me out in my home," Zecora said.

[b](Flashback Start)

[/b]Naruto was wearing a dark orange shirt and a pair of black pants with blue flames around the bottom and sides. He was walking towards the home of some pony that he had not seen in several years, not since he led the others to freedom from the facility.

He was praying that the zebra is his friend from that nightmarish place, Naruto hoped she could inform him on the fate of the others as well. Despite his best efforts, he could find nothing on what happened to the rest of the group, he learned that there was a large group rescued from the Badlands around the same time he arrived in Ponyville so he knew that they were safe.

Naruto took several deep calming breathes to relax and prepare himself for what was to come, he stepped forward and knocked three times on the door.

Zecora opened the door to the sight of an unusual stallion waiting outside her home, as she examined the stallion, she felt that there was something familiar about the stallion. She felt if she knew him but could not place where they had met before today.

"I'm sorry for coming to your home unannounced, but when I heard about you from my friends I wanted to see if you were the same zebra that I had met a long time ago," Naruto said.

Zecora gained a confused look on her face, "you say we met before, but this is the first time we have spoken, so please tell me when we met before."

"We last met a long time ago, we were a part of a group escaping from a horrific place. To reach the surface lands, we had to cross a massive stone bridge after everypony had crossed over I ran back to the center to break the bridge and delay any ponies from coming after us. As I prepared to break it, a monster that had been following us since our escape emerged from the darkness. The monster made its way toward me on the bridge and swung its blade at me I met it with my ax and shattered its blade. It summoned a whip next and I used my ax to shatter the bridge, the monster fell into the darkness but pulled me into it at the last second," Naruto replied.

By the time Naruto had finished recalling how he was separated from the group, Zecora was already in tears. She was hopeful that this was the friend she lost so long ago but there was one way to be sure. Each of the leaders of the group before they escaped partnered up with another, each pair had a code phrase that would tell if one of them had been replaced by some pony else.

Zecora was Naruto's partner, she would say her phrase and see if he responded with his own, this would confirm if the pony before was her friend.

Zecora stepped forward, "If I were to ask you, I am a traveling herbalist seeking herbs to heal the sick."

"Then I would reply with, I am a chimera with the heart of a dragon and the soul of the wolf who guides the lost," Naruto replied.

Zecora said nothing at first merely looking ground at first before raising her head and looking at Naruto, tears were freely falling down her face. She suddenly moved forward and embraced the friend she had lost so long ago.

"I can't believe it's you're still alive, everypony thought you died that day. When we lost you on the bridge we chose to carry on, we didn't want the sacrifice you made to be in vain so kept moving forward chasing the sun as you told us to do," Zecora said while pressing her face into Naruto's chest.

Naruto just pulled her tight letting her know that this was not a dream, he was glad to see that Zecora had managed to rebuild her life after the cult tried to take it away.

Zecora invited Naruto inside to discuss what happened after they had spilled apart; she was curious to know what happened to him after he was pulled into the darkness by the monster.

"We fell through the darkness for what felt like forever, after a while I began to notice as large clumps of water started to appear before us. The clumps would continue to grow in size in shape until we slammed into an underground lake, the water quenched the monster's fire left us in the darkness," Naruto explained.

Zecora sat across from him listening to every word of his story, they had a cup of tea in front of them. Naruto took a long sip of his before continuing his story picking up after they had fallen into the lake.

"Before we hit the water I latched onto the monster with my blades to help shield me from the impact of the water, this worked out well for me because the monster would swim into an underwater tunnel that would lead us to a ruined castle. I surfaced first and tried to put distance between us, but the monster surfaced to fast, it was without its fire, but it was still a dangerous foe. I used to hit and run tactics using the environment to my advantage to strike and retreat out of its sight. In the end, I lured into an area while the tiles on the ground were weakened and caused it to fall through the floor before finishing it off with a plunge attack from above," Naruto said.

Zecora was shocked at the fact Naruto was able to slay the monster, but there was a reason she and the others saw him as a leader of the group. He was always stronger than everypony else and that was even before the cult turned him into a chimera.

"What happened after the battle, how did you go from the castle ruins to Ponyville?" Zecora asked.

"After I recovered enough from the battle, I began exploring the ruins for supplies and information on where I was. It was a while later after raiding a storage house for old supplies and placing them in a bag, I had found I encountered a strange ball of light that would lead me to a strange door. The door was made from black stone with gold edging, in the center of the door was a design of a tree. As I got closer to the door I began to notice a strange black ooze coming out from the cracks of the door and around the tree, I began to back away but the ooze ensnared me and pulled me into the door. I remember blacking out as the ooze consumed me but then waking up in a forest clearing," Naruto said.

Zecora was on the edge of her seat, Naruto seemed to go through one problem after another. He just kept pushing forward as best he could no matter how difficult the problems became, he just kept moving forward. She realized his tale was not done and motioned him to finish his tale.

"I would wake up at the base of a strange tree made of the crystal inside a sunken clearing. The tree gave off a peaceful feeling that would relax and soothe me, I could feel the pain and stiffness from my battle fading away. I would scale a tall tree to gain my bearing spying another ruined castle and what looked like a town far off in the distance. I would stop by the castle first before the town, I knew that it was for the best because the woods would become more dangerous at night," Naruto said.

Naruto went on to explain how he made it to the castle ruins without much difficulty, he would later learn that it was the former castle of the two Princesses before the castle in Canterlot was built. He would hunker down in a room for the night before exploring the castle in the morning.

"I would find a map of the area and make a route that would lead me to the town that I knew was called Ponyville, as I made my way through the forest I would meet a strange river serpent named Stephen he would help me with directions and warned me of the residents of the forest especially one of the most common predators the timberwolves. From there I continued the path to Ponyville while walking on the path I would be attacked by the timberwolves that Stephan had warned me about. l they were relentless in their attacks, I repelled all that I could but took damage from their attacks I would escape them by leaving the woods and slipping into Sweet apple acres," Naruto said.

Naruto went on to explain that he would be found a stallion and brought to the hospital, he would be later placed in the orphanage where he would grow up into the stallion in front of her. He would try to find information on the others but found scraps leading to dead ends and trouble when he brought the cults eye on to himself and nearly ended up in their hands once again.

Zecora was processing everything Naruto had said, she was happy beyond words that he was still alive. She was amazed at what he had gone through and even more amazed at the fact he had brought down the monster that had struck such fear in them so long ago.

"Zecora I am sorry to interrupt your thoughts but what happened to the others, I heard rumors that Princess Celestia had rescued a large group from the Badlands. I could only guess that it was you and the others when I heard what had happened from the others and learning that you were the one they had encountered I rushed over here to find out for myself," Naruto said.

Zecora smiled at Naruto she was happy to he had not changed over the years, he still cared for others more than anything else. He always tried to give others aid while hiding his problems from prying eyes.

"It's true we were rescued by the Princess and her guards and were brought to Canterlot castle, Princess Celestia cared for us and helped us get back on our feet and find our paths in life. Everyone soon went their separate ways, some chose to return to their homelands and others chose to create their own homes in Equestria," Zecora said.

Naruto smiled at the fact the others were able to rebuild their lives after everything the cult had taken and put them through. He hoped he would get the chance to meet with them again to see and hear what happened.

The two would continue to discuss their lives and what happened in between what had happened in the years they had separated. The pair would end up talking to one other until long after the sun had set.

Naruto would bid his goodbyes to his friend and back to his home, the creatures of Evertree forest would pose little threat to him but he would be cautious none the less.

As Naruto made his way back to his home his thoughts turned to the others, for the first time in a long while he was happy because he finally found out what had happened to others and this gave him peace of mind, hopefully, he could see them all once more in the future.

[b](Flashback end)[/b]

"It was a few months later that Naruto told me, that because of the rumors spreading about him that he had lost his job. His former boss offered him a chance to start a new one in Canterlot as a member of the royal guard," Zecora said.

This shocked the Twilight and the others were shocked by what they had just heard, they had heard rumors Naruto had lost his job as a lumberjack and wasn't around as a handy stallion anymore but they never expected him to sign up with the royal guard.

"Wait, wait, wait, Naruto left Ponyville to become a member of the guard, I don't see that happening, Naruto never gave off the warrior vibe he was just a regular stallion," Dash said.

"Naruto always was a fairly relaxed pony had never really acted like a fighter, he acted like Big-Mac the strong silent type darling," Rarity said.

Zecora, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot laughed at the mare's statement, they did not know the Naruto from when he was a prisoner of the cult. There was a reason he was selected as the leader of the group despite his age.

Naruto was some pony to be feared especially when angered, he was a force to be feared when those he cared about when threatened. The cult found that out the hard way after they had transformed him into a chimera and tried to remind him of his place. He went berserk on them and tore them to pieces; he was not in control of himself at the time due to the transformation and the new instincts running through him.

The others were curious at what they found so funny; they knew more Naruto then they did due to the fact Naruto never talked much about his past. He always avoided the subject or steered the topic away from his past.

Pinkie was the first to respond and looked around with a confused look, "What's so funny? Is there a clown pony on a unicycle juggling pies to cool them down?"

Pinky's question brought many confused looks to those present in the room but quickly faded away. The others knew it was just Pinkie being herself while everypony else let the comment pass.

"To answer your question Pinkie, out of everypony in our group Naruto was the strongest one. Most had lost hope or were broken from the torment but Naruto would always put on a brave face and try to help others as best as he could," Zecora said.

Her mind began traveling down the dark path to those buried memories of when she was a prisoner of the cult and Naruto would always try to shoulder the burden of protecting the others by himself no matter how badly they beat him.

This brought up more questions to the group, they had heard how Zecora's reunion went with Naruto went and now they were curious to know what happened when Spitfire and Fleetfoot met up with him.

"Um, excuse me, Spitfire? How did you meet up with Naruto, you meant after he joined up with the guard, that is if you don't mind telling us?" Fluttershy said in her normal shy tone.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot remembered that day, they were at the castle to report on an incident that had happened and ended up reuniting with him when a friend introduced him to them.

"We were in Canterlot to explain the details of an incident that occurred outside of Los Pegasus, we were there doing a show when we headed outside to get some fresh air and clear our minds when we were attacked by a monster," Spitfire said.

[b](Flashback Start)[/b]

Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin were having a simple night flight around Las Pegasus to stretch their muscles from the earlier show, they were warned before they went out of a strange creature that had spotted around the area.

The descriptions of the creature had been vague with few sticking around to get a good look at the monster, it looked like a pony had oozed black slime wherever it appeared. They ooze it left made it easy to see where it went but it would just vanish again after a while.

The trio would first notice signs of the creature in the form of a large area of the desert coated in black ooze, they decided to investigate the area. The sand was blackened because of the strange substance that seemed to be coming up from underneath the sand itself.

All three of them looked at the area with confused looks on their faces, "What do you think could have caused this?" Soarin asked his teammates.

"I'm not sure what could do something like this, but this area gives me a bad feeling none the less," Spitfire said with Fleetfoot nodding in agreement.

Before they could take off and report the strange area a roar and shaking tore through the area, the sand at the center of the area began to rise as something was pushing up from underneath the sand.

A second roar sounded off as a claw-like hand burst from the sand, the flesh on the hand was blackened and torn with bone showing in multiple spots. The rest of the body soon followed the hand, like the hand the flesh on the pony was blackened like leather no traces of fur was seen on the body.

The body resembled that of an earth pony, the body was thin with bones showing through the skin in multiple areas. From the pony's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth leaked the same black ooze as on the ground. It turned towards the trio of pegasus its face turning into a snarl, it gave off a large howl before charging at Spitfire and the others.

The creature fired off several blobs of at the trio Spitfire and Soarin took to the air to dodge the blobs but Fleetfoot got struck by one in the leg pinning her to the ground.

The creature rushed towards Fleetfoot while forming a tentacle from the black ooze, the tentacle lashed out striking Fleetfoot and sending her skidding across the desert sands. Soarin rushed towards the downed Fleetfoot while Spitfire faced off against the tentacled monster.

Spitfire moved forward dodging the creature's attacks and following up with a mix of punches and kicks of her own, but the attacks failed to affect the monster in any way. Spitfire was forced to pull back when the monster switched out its tentacle arm for a clawed appendage.

Soarin was attending to Fleetfoot, she had a small concussion from the attack along with a few cracked ribs. She also had light bruising on her wings, she was down for the count on this fight. Fleetfoot was awake and aware of the situation, she was grounded for the time being unable to help Spitfire with the monster.

"Don't try to move, you injured your ribs and moving will only make them worse," Soarin said placing a hand on his friend.

Both looked back towards their captain who currently engaged in a fierce battle against the unknown monster, Spitfire was doing what she could, but it was easy to see that the monster was shrugging off the attacks with minimal effort.

Spitfire hovered in the air she could see that her regular attacks were not doing enough damage to the monster and it may be time to switch tactics. Spitfire knew she would have to call upon the abilities forced upon her by the cult.

Spitfire formed a fireball in her hands and launched it at the creature, it screamed in pain as the fireball impacted against its body. Flames licked the flesh, the ooze that came from its body was highly flammable because it caught alight when sparks from the flames touched it.

Spitfire continued to attack the creature using fire attacks switching from long-range fireballs to blast mines which she laid on the ground and made the monster trip them when he charged forward to attack her.

The relentless attacks were wearing down the creature little by little, Spitfire knew that it was time to end this charade for the last time. She readied another fireball this one larger than the others and had swirling fan blades around it.

She threw the charged attack at the creature, it exploded on contact engulfing it in flames. The creature failed about screaming in pain as the ooze flowing from it burned itself from the inside out.

It stopped and collapsed on the ground as the fire burnt it to ash, the fires died down leaving a black soot outline of the creature on the sand. Spitfire was panting lightly the fight was tiring and the fact she had to use the gift that the cult forced upon her did not help her mood in any way.

Soarin and wounded Fleetfoot made their way over to their captain, they could see that she was tired from the fight but had no injures to speak off.

"Are you ok? What in Equestria was that thing?" Soarin asked.

"I'm positive I have seen something like that when the cult held us captive," Fleetfoot replied.

"We will worry about that later first let us get Fleetfoot to a hospital then inform the local law enforcement what happened in the desert," Spitfire said.

A few days after they had reported what happened they were called to Canterlot to report on what happened in the desert. Spitfire and Fleetfoot were planning on meeting with a friend in the castle and catch up with her.

[b]The next day…

[/b]The trio was had just finished giving their report to Princess Celestia, Spitfire and Fleetfoot was planning on meeting with a friend in the castle while Soarin headed back to the Wonderbolt H.Q. to hold the fort until they got back.

The friend they were meeting was having difficulty dealing with the son of some noble pony, he was far too used to having his way, so he constantly caused problems with the other team members.

They learned recently that she was finally able to get rid of the jerk and had a strange new stallion take his place.

"Do you think the replacement will be different from the stallion he is replacing, from what Blast said he was new to the guard and kept to himself most of the time," Fleetfoot said.

Spitfire shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, Blast seems to think highly of him, and he doesn't cause trouble for the other members so that could mean he is a good fit for the team."

The two would continue talking and walking down the hall until they saw the friend, they were looking for ahead of them.

"How are you two doing? There are alrighty rumors spreading about what you three fought against in Los Pegasus," Blast said.

Spitfire sighed, "It's not surprising that the rumors are spreading quickly, the encounter with the monster was unusual and maybe far from over."

Fleetfoot feeling the tension in the air decided to switch topics, "tell us about the replacement, you described in as being an unusual stallion."

Blast put her hand to her chin as she thought about Naruto, Blast was very happy with how well he worked with the other members of the team and had proven on multiple occasions he could handle anything that was thrown at him.

"He is a unique stallion, to say the least, he came from Ponyville but left when rumors surrounding him got out of control and made him lose his job. His former boss knew some pony in the guard and recommended him and helped him join the guard. He proved to be self-reliant and has a strong will that constantly pushes him to keep moving forward despite whatever challenges come his way," Blast said.

Spitfire started thinking about what Blast said, and her thoughts immediately turned to Naruto. The stallion Blast described sounds so much like him, he always tried to keep pushing forward even when life looked its bleakest.

Fleetfoot had similar thoughts as Spitfire, this stallion reminded her of Naruto from when he was alive and still with the group.

Blast turned to her friends when she noticed that they had stopped moving, "Are the two of you okay? Both of you seem to be spacing out right now."

"Sorry, what you said made us think of a friend we had lost long ago," Spitfire said.

As they entered the training ground Blast saw Naruto was wrapping up his usual session, Naruto seeing Blast waved her over not seeing that she had company with her.

As they drew closer Spitfire and Fleetfoot started to recognize the stallion as the friend they lost but how was he here.

"Naruto!" Spitfire and Fleetfoot shouted at the same time.

Naruto looked up and saw Spitfire and Fleetfoot standing across from with Blast, he readied himself for the yelling and punching that they would give him.

Spitfire rushed forward and grabbed Naruto by his shirt and started shaking him back and forth demanding answers.

"How are you still alive? Why didn't you contact us to let us know you were ok?" Spitfire cried out.

Naruto said nothing at first, he just pulled Spitfire into a tight hug and rubbed her back to help calm her down.

Spitfire started hammering blows on Naruto's chest, Naruto did nothing to block the attacks he just let Spitfire get her frustration out. The blows soon slowed down as Spitfire just buried her face in Naruto's chest, tears fell from her eyes as Naruto held her tightly letting her know everything would be okay.

Fleetfoot was not fairing any better than Spitfire, she was openly crying while holding her hands over her mouth. She was not sure if she should believe what in front of her is authentic, but he must be him.

It took a while, but Spitfire eventually calmed down and was able to compose herself, the group moved to the cafeteria to have lunch and for Naruto to explain what is going on.

Naruto started with what happened when he was separated from the group to his journey to Ponyville and growing up in the town. He ended with how he lost his old job and was talked into joining up with the guard.

"I have one question for you, why didn't you try to find us? We all thought you died when you were pulled into the darkness. You're the one who started us on the path to freedom and are the reason we have the lives and freedom we have," Spitfire asked.

"I tried to find you but I found nothing leading me towards you and the others, it was not until later in life that I found about you two when I saw you on a wonderbolts poster," Naruto replied.

The others were quietly reflecting on what they had heard from Naruto, they were unsure of what to do next. They did not know what to do next, their friend was back though that is what mattered to them to two of them.

Blast was on the sidelines watching everything unfold, she was a member of the guard that was with Celestia when she rescued the group from the Badlands

Fleetfoot placed her hand on Naruto's, "We are just happy that you are alive, the others deserve to know that you are alive."

Naruto sighed, "that will be difficult to do, I am nervous about facing every pony again after failing them when they needed me and avoided them for so long."

Spitfire and Fleetfoot hugged Naruto on both sides to reassure him that everything would be okay. He was the beacon that leads them to freedom and now the had to help him find his path out of his darkness.

[b](Flashback end)[/b]

"That is how our reunion went, we would try to visit and hang out with Naruto during our breaks and downtime," Spitfire said.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot remembered all the fun times they had together after their initial reunion, they would go out to different things or get together at Naruto's place and just enjoy each other's company.

Soon enough things began to change between the trio, Spitfire was the first to change in what she felt towards Naruto. She from the beginning had developed feelings of admiration towards Naruto for always being so strong and helping others stay strong. It was after their reunion did the feelings she had begun to change and grow uniquely.

Fleetfoot noticed the same thing happening to her at the same time as Spitfire, upon talking with one other they realized they had developed feelings for Naruto. They would discuss this amongst themselves figuring out a plan to talk to Naruto.

Spitfire pulled herself from her thoughts when she felt the others trying to get her attention, she quickly shook her head to rid herself of the distracting thoughts.

"Is everything ok Captain Spitfire, your mind seems to be elsewhere at this moment in time?" Celestia asked.

"I am fine Princess Celestia, I just have a lot going on in my mind right now," Spitfire replied.

"I believe that now is an appropriate time to stop, it's getting late and it is time for my sister to raise the moon. Everypony should head home and get some sleep, if there are any new developments, I will let you know," Celestia said.

Everypony agreed the day had taken its toll on all of them. They needed time to process all that they had learned and inform others about what was going on.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot headed to Cloudsdale while Twilight and her friends were taking the train to Ponyville. On the way to the train station, the group was discussing what happened and what they had learned about their friend.

"I can't believe that Naruto was one of the Lost Ones, I heard of the group in the past but never would have guessed that Naruto was a member of the group," Twilight said.

"Agreed, I heard the rumors about Ponies and other races being kidnapped, no pony knew what happened to them, but I guess we do now," Rarity replied.

"From what yawl and the others described it the time you spent in the facility seemed like a nightmare that would never end," Applejack said to Zecora.

"Indeed, it was back then, many times we had nearly given hope of being free of that nightmarish den," Zecora said.

"It sounds it was horrible during those times, so many scary things. It was a never-ending nightmare you could not wake up from," Fluttershy said.

Everypony nodded their heads in agreement, what Naruto and the others went through during their time at the facility. They were surprised to find out Naruto was such a bad flank then he let on.

He always gave off the air of a relaxed pony, he rarely got angry at anything that was thrown at him. Twilight and the others realized there were many things they did not know about their friend and that he kept many secrets from them and everypony else.

**AN: Well another chapter is done and the next one will see where Naruto ended up and the first world, he will visit. I may not due a chapter for each world he encounters some maybe talked about in Multiple short parts in a single chapter or brief mentions through flashbacks.**

**If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to send me message, I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. **


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